Charlie's Girl
by Rynn03
Summary: Meet Rebecca, a girl who's past is a mystery even to herself. Orphaned as a child and forced to transfer schools, Rebecca struggles with her own insecurities as Charlie Weasley tries to befriend her and finds out how special instant connections are.
1. Diagon Alley

The door of the Leaky Cauldron opened to reveal a 15-year-old girl. She walked in and looked around at the people there. People watched her as she walked through wondering what a girl her age was doing there by herself. Nervously she walked up to the barkeep and asked, "Excuse me, but how do I get to Diagon Alley from here?" He looked at her for a moment.  
  
"Ah come to do your school shopping have you Miss Carter? Come let me show you," said the barkeep as he headed from behind the bar to a back room. The girl followed and as she stepped out of the dim tavern in to the brightly light room her dark hair changed to an auburn color.  
  
"Now you look more like your parents. Those dim lights in there change everyone's hair color. Your father had all those red highlights, too," commented the barkeep.  
  
"You knew my parents?" she asked with a voice full of hope.  
  
"Oh Yes, your father came in all the time when he was younger and your mother would come in every once in a while after they were married. You came in with them once or twice with them when you were tiny, Rebecca."  
  
Rebecca smiled at him wanting to ask more about her parents, but just couldn't get herself to build up the courage to do so. The barkeep continued, "Now here is how you enter Diagon Alley from here. Take out your wand and hit these bricks."  
  
Rebecca took her wand out and tapped the bricks he showed her. The bricks started a chain react and revealed a street full of shops.  
  
"Thank you very much" said Rebecca with a smile to the barkeep.  
  
"Anytime. Have fun," he said and waved good-bye to her.  
  
Rebecca walks into Diagon Alley and looked around to see all the people. She walked toward Gringotts to get money for her supplies. After finding the proper note in her pocket, she walked in and went to a teller. Rebecca stood nervously as the goblin read it.  
  
"You have no guardian?" he finally said. Rebecca responded, "No not anymore." She could feel the tear swell up inside her, but she repressed them. She hated when people asked her questions like that.  
  
"Very well follow me," continued the teller as he walked off to get to her vault. Rebecca followed and took a seat in a car. The car took her and the teller straight to her vault. After the teller opened the vault, Rebecca went in to get enough money to buy what she needed and a little extra for during the school year. She got back into the car and the teller took her back to the main floor.  
  
Rebecca was done there so she headed out to start her shopping. She had just walked out the door when she heard a familiar voice say,  
  
"Hey, there you are. I was beginning to think that misread you letter." Rebecca looked around and saw her childhood neighbor and friend Ryan. He ran up and gave her a quick hug. They took a step back from each other and just looked at each other. They hadn't seen each other in about a year and each looked different to the other.  
  
Ryan started with his assessment of how Rebecca changed since he last saw her. "Wow, you are taller than I remembered. Are you about 5'6" now? I about didn't recognize you I was looking for you with short hair about to you chin and here you have it two inches below your shoulders."  
  
Rebecca just smiled and started with what changed about Ryan "You got taller too. When did you start slicking your hair back like that?"  
  
Ryan didn't answer her question. He looked into her eyes and said, "When did your eyes change color? I thought they were brown before."  
  
Rebecca was shocked at he even noticed.  
  
"Oh my eyes are turning green, I guess. I noticed last fall that I had green tints in my eyes and they kept getting more prominent. Wadsworth said that my mother's father had green eyes and they got greener as he got older. I guess I got the gene that does that."  
  
"So you're going to have green eyes when you're older?"  
  
"No I think I will have hazel even if they keep changing and Wadsworth seemed to think so too."  
  
"Um, I was sorry to hear about Wadsworth," Ryan said softly.  
  
Rebecca looked down at the ground and softly said, "Thank you."  
  
"I'm sorry I didn't make it to the funeral."  
  
"Let's not talk about it," Rebecca said to stop him from going any farther.  
  
"Okay," Ryan said timidly. He didn't want to get Rebecca upset at him. They had been really good friend when they were younger, but then they went off to different school. Interaction between them was limited to during the summer and even that was limited due to vacations and other activities. He didn't know whether they were still the same friends that they use to be.  
  
To change the topic Ryan quickly said, "Come on let's go meet up with some of my friends, so that you know a few more people at Hogwarts. After we do that, then we all can do some shopping."  
  
Rebecca smiled and nodded. They headed down the street in search for Ryan's friends. Rebecca really wanted to meet them. She was transferring from Beauxbatons to Hogwarts. This meant that she was leaving all her friends to go somewhere where she only new Ryan and she really didn't know how well she even knew him anymore.  
  
Ryan and Rebecca hadn't walked that far when a black haired boy came running up to them. The boy was a slight bit shorter than Ryan and had broad shoulders. His looks reminded Rebecca of a thug. She couldn't help but to truly think this of him, because the first thing he said was "Hey, Ryan what are we doing today?"  
  
'Sounds like someone takes orders from somebody else,' Rebecca thought to herself trying to be slightly amused by it.  
  
"Hey Sam, I would like you to meet Rebecca," Ryan said as he gestured towards Rebecca. "Rebecca this is my friend Sam."  
  
"It's nice to meet you," Rebecca said giving Sam a shy smile.  
  
Sam nodded at her and turned back to Ryan to see what they were going to do. Ryan then said, "Okay let's go and find the others."  
  
As they walked around in search for the others, Rebecca took in the sights. She had never been to Diagon Alley before so everything was new to her. Rebecca was looking into Flourish and Blotts' window when she heard voices call, "Hey Ryan! Hey Sam!"  
  
Rebecca took her gaze off of the books and turned to see who said it. It was two guys who were every similar to Sam in the fact that they looked like thugs too. One of the boys had blonde hair and was about two inches shorter than Sam. The other boy had jet black hair and was about an inch taller than Ryan.  
  
"Hey guys, where is Russel?" Ryan asked.  
  
"Oh he couldn't come today," said the taller boy.  
  
"Neither could Cassie," added the blonde boy said.  
  
"Well that's a relief," muttered Ryan.  
  
Everyone looked at him curiously. Before anyone on could say anything, Ryan spoke up and said, "Hans and Dan, this is Rebecca. Rebecca this is Hans," pointing to the blonde and then pointing to the other "and this is Dan."  
  
"Hi," Rebecca said giving them a timid smile. The guys nodded at her as Sam did. Then Hans, Sam, and Dan looked at Ryan to see what they were going to do.  
  
Rebecca rolled her eyes. 'What is Ryan doing with all these lackeys,' she thought to herself.  
  
"Okay guys let's get our books, then we will get the other supplies, and after that we can goof off. They turned around and headed into the store.  
  
Since they all were fifth year students, they had to get all the same books, but Rebecca wanted to get another book beside the assigned ones. She gathered up all her books and went off in search of it.  
  
Defense against the Dark Arts was one of Rebecca's favorite subjects at Beauxbatons. The teacher there had suggested a book to her, but due to the events of the summer Rebecca had not picked it up yet.  
  
When she found the section it would be in, Rebecca put her other books down to seek out the book. She found the book eventually, but it was unfortunately placed on a shelf out of Rebecca's reach. Rebecca gave out a sigh and looked at the book wondering how she was going to get. Just then someone walked into the section and looked at her for a second.  
  
"Do you need help?" the person said. Rebecca turned her head to see a red- headed boy about 17 looking at her. He was fairly tall so he could reach the book Rebecca wanted.  
  
"Yeah, I wanted that book there," Rebecca responded looking and pointing at the book. The boy reached up and took the book off the shelf with ease.  
  
"Is this the right one?" he asked as he handed her the book.  
  
"Yes, thank you so much," Rebecca said and she headed out of the section  
  
After she picked up her other books, she headed to get all of them paid for. As she got was walking towards the register, she passed Ryan and his group. They were in deep conversation and didn't notice Rebecca go by.  
  
"Guys, I'll explain Rebecca to her again. She will be fine with it," Ryan said.  
  
"Well you better hope Rebecca talks to more people so you don't have too many problems with her," Hans said.  
  
Ryan calmly said, "I have this under control. Don't worry. Everything will be great this year."  
  
Rebecca continued towards the register. She did not have a good feeling about what the guys were talking about and she didn't want anything to do with it.  
  
Rebecca paid for her books and went to join the guys.  
  
As she approached the guys, Rebecca said, "I'm done. Are we ready to go?"  
  
She had said this so that the guys would stop talking before she got close enough to hear what they were talking about.  
  
Ryan turned around and smiled at her. "Okay, let's go," he said and started towards the door.  
  
They walked out the door and headed to another store to get potion's ingredients. After that stop, they made their way to get ink and paper.  
  
Finally, after a couple other stores, they had completed their school shopping and a little window-shopping on the side.  
  
They had had a couple of laughs here and there, but Rebecca could feel a tension between her and Ryan's other friends that she didn't really care for.  
  
She wasn't too sure that she would really like it at Hogwarts if she had to be around them too much.  
  
As they walked out of the quidditch store, Ryan said, "Hey, let's stop at Flouren Fortescue's and get some ice cream before we leave."  
  
Everyone agreed and they set off. Rebecca wanted to see if her interaction with them would be any different when they were sitting at the ice cream parlor. They sat down their stuff at a table outside of the store. Ryan, Dan, Sam, and Hans went in to get the ice cream and Rebecca stayed at the table.  
  
As she sat there by herself, she looked at the people passing by. Rebecca suddenly noticed the red haired boy from the bookstore walking across the street.  
  
He was with his family this time. There were his parents, five other boys and a girl all with red hair. One of the other boys looked about Rebecca's age, but she wasn't sure about the other' ages.  
  
Rebecca was still staring at the family when Ryan returned with her ice cream and placed it in front of her. Ryan and the guys started a new conversation, but Rebecca didn't notice. Big families fascinate Rebecca, she had been an orphan since she was little and has no siblings so natural she was curious on what she was missing.  
  
She is continued to stare at the family not paying any attention to Ryan or the conversation that is going on. Ryan snaps his fingers in front of her face and she jumped.  
  
"What were you looking at?" he asked.  
  
"Oh just this family," she responded slightly embarrassed.  
  
Ryan scoffed a little and said, "You always were fascinated by large families."  
  
"I know," Rebecca quietly said even more embarrassed. The other guys looked at Rebecca, which made her more uncomfortable.  
  
Ryan turned to the guys, and explained, "Rebecca's parents died when she was younger and she has no siblings so she is always watching people and how they interact with their families."  
  
Even though Ryan was calm about it and the other guys seemed to 'understand', Rebecca thought that what Ryan said made her sound pathetic. She picked up her spoon and started to eat ice cream in silence.  
  
Ryan and Hans got into such a deep conversation that they were only talking to each other. Sam and Dan tried to start a conversation with Rebecca, but nothing flowed that well.  
  
Rebecca tried to ask them who Cassie was but they changed the conversation on her and started talking with each other.  
  
'Maybe I should have asked who Russel was instead of Cassie. I might have been able to get a better conversation out of them,' she thought to herself  
  
Rebecca found herself back to looking at the people walking on the street wishing she was back with her old friends while the guys talked.  
  
Finally Ryan looked at his watch and said, "Well I better get going. Come on Rebecca, I'll help you out."  
  
"Okay," Rebecca said with slight smile. "It was nice to meet all of you."  
  
"Yeah, it was nice to meet you too. Have a good day," Hans said as the others nodded to acknowledge she said something.  
  
Rebecca and Ryan start to walk to where Rebecca had entered Diagon Alley. As they walked, Rebecca saw the red headed family again and just smiled to herself.  
  
To make conversation as they headed towards the Leaky Cauldron, Rebecca tried to ask who Russel and Cassie were again. Ryan suspiciously answered  
  
"Oh, don't worry about them, you'll meet them on the train." There was a pause in the conversation as the approached the entrance to the Leaky Cauldron.  
  
"How are you getting home?" Ryan asked with a puzzled look on his face. He hadn't thought about how Rebecca got there.  
  
"I'll take a cab. The same way I got here."  
  
"Well, I am going to meet my uncle and his kid do you want a lift home?"  
  
"Lucius?"  
  
"Yeah, do you remember him?"  
  
"Um, yeah." Rebecca remembered him all right. There was something creepy about him. She never really like being around him when she was younger and she doubted that she would like being around him now.  
  
"So do want to go with me and find them and them we'll take you home?"  
  
"Oh, no, I like riding in cabs and I don't get to do it that often so I better take any chance I get."  
  
"Have you always been this comfortable with muggle things?"  
  
"I guess. Wadsworth always told me that 'if you know how to use muggle things then you can hide your magic easier', so I had to do things the way muggles do since I was little."  
  
"Huh, I don't think I would care for that too much. Well I got to get going and find my uncle. I'll look for you on the platform and we'll get a seat together on the train, okay? Bye."  
  
"Bye." Rebecca gave hime a smile as she and Ryan departed. She walked through the tavern and said good-bye to the barkeep.  
  
Outside she hailed a cab and started the drive home. As she was in the back seat of the cab, she thought about her impression of Ryan after the day with him and what she needed to pack before the next day's trip. 


	2. Hogwart's Express

Rebecca arrives at the train station and puts all of her things on a cart. She had never been to Hogwarts before so everything was unfamiliar to her and she had no clue how to get to the platform.  
  
Wadsworth, her family's butler who had been her guardian since her parents died, had died himself at the beginning of the summer so Rebecca had no one left to show her the way and no instructions to follow.  
  
All the changes in her life were making her feel like a nervous wreck, but she had been able to get herself through it all. However not knowing how to get to the train was about enough to send her over the edge.  
  
Rebecca looked for Ryan hoping that he would show soon and help her out. Soon Rebecca found herself desperate for any one that might know about the platform.  
  
She was about to give up hope when she sees the family from Diagon Alley. She first saw the boy that helped her in the bookstore and then the rest of the family.  
  
Her heart leaped for joy to see someone that she recognized even if she really did not know the people. Rebecca was a very shy person, but her desperation was going to push her to get over it for a short while.  
  
She gathered up her courage and walked up to the family. Her eyes meet with the red headed boy who looked about her age and they exchanged shy smiles.  
  
"Excuse me, but I saw you at Diagon Alley. I am new to Hogwarts and I was wondering if you could tell me how to get to Platform 9 3/4." Rebecca asked timidly as her stomach did a flip-flop.  
  
She scanned the family to see how they were responding to her question. Relieved to see the family was sweetly smiling at her when she finished she smiled back and felt her anxiety subside.  
  
The father of the red haired clan responded to Rebecca, "Of course, my dear. All you do is walk into the column between the platforms 9 and 10. Here Bill will go first and show you."  
  
With that the boy, who helped her in the bookstore, took his cart and headed straight into the brick. After Bill made it through the father turned to Rebecca.  
  
"Now you can go before Charlie," he said pointing to the boy Rebecca's age.  
  
"Thank you very much," Rebecca said with a big smile and went through the column. When she stopped walking she found herself on the platform and she saw the train for the first time.  
  
She was turning around to wait for the rest of the red-haired family to come through to the platform so that she could really thank them properly when Ryan came running up to her.  
  
"Hey about time you made it here, come on let's get on the train."  
  
"Ryan, I'll be right there, I just need to."  
  
Before she could finish Ryan took her and pulled her towards the train telling, "We need to get on the train now so that we get seats."  
  
And with that Rebecca found herself on the train on the way to Hogwarts.  
  
She could feel the anxiety building up inside of her.  
  
Rebecca followed Ryan into a compartment where his friends are already. She recognizes all but one from the previous day.  
  
"Hey Malfoy," the unfamilar boy said as Ryan walked in and greeted his friends.  
  
"Russel, where have you been? You missed a great day at Diagon Alley" Ryan said to the guy.  
  
"So I heard," the dark haired boy responded. "And who is this?" he asked looking at Rebecca.  
  
She gave a weak smile as Ryan answered, "Oh this is Rebecca. If you had been at Diagon Alley you would have meet her there."  
  
"Well, now I am sorry I missed that" Russel said smiling at Rebecca in a way that made her a little uncomfortable. However, she got a feeling that he wasn't a lackey like the rest of Ryan's friends, so Rebecca just chalked her uncomfortable feeling as nervousness.  
  
Everyone took a seat as the train started rolling. All the guy's broad shoulders made it very crowded in the compartment. Rebecca was sitting in the middle of Ryan and Russel and had a little bit more room then the rest of the guys, but it didn't make her feel any more at ease. As they sat there the guys talked about their summers. Rebecca didn't say that much, partly because she didn't really want to talk and partly because she was thinking about the red-haired family and how much more comfortable she had been with them then she was now. Russel asked a few questions trying to get her to talk, but Rebecca could answer almost every question with a yes or a no answer. Russel gave up on asking question and started to talk about what happens at Hogwarts.  
  
He told her that he was the seeker for the Slytherin house and then looked at her and said, "You know you look like you're an athlete. You could be good at quidditch. Maybe we should practice sometime."  
  
It was true Rebecca had an athletic built, but she wasn't sure what Russel was truly getting at so she just flashed a smile and looked at her feet.  
  
As the trip progressed, girls stopped in to say 'Hi, Ryan or Russel' and give Rebecca a dirty look. Final one of the girls actually came into the compartment.  
  
"Hi Guys" the girl said with a smile. The girl looked around the compartment and saw Rebecca.  
  
"Oh, hi. You must be new. I'm Cassie."  
  
"Hi, I'm Rebecca. It's very nice to meet you" Rebecca faded off at the end because Cassie turned her attention to Ryan and squeezed herself on to the bench they were sitting on. Rebecca had to slide into Russel as Ryan slide into her making the seating arrangements even tighter. She had been claustrophobic since she could remember and Rebecca passed out ever time she got into tight spots.  
  
"Are you okay?" Russel asked looking at her as the color drained from her face.  
  
"Yeah, I just need some air" Rebecca answered placing her hand on Russel's leg to help herself up.  
  
Russel gently took a hold her hand and asked, "Do you need anyone to go with you?"  
  
"No, I will be fine." She slipped her hand out of Russel's grasp and walked out of the door.  
  
As Rebecca walked away, she heard Ryan say, "Oh don't worry about her. She is claustrophobic and she'll be fine when she gets some air."  
  
'Well at least he remembered that about me,' Rebecca thought as she went in search for a new place to sit.  
  
As she walked up the corridor looking in the compartments, she saw Charlie with his friends in another crowded compartment. He looked up to see her walking by. They exchanged smiles and Rebecca continued her search. Towards the end of the train, she found an empty compartment and settled herself in for the rest of the trip. Rebecca was thankful to be by herself. She had a lot on her mind and Ryan and his friends were not the most comfortable people to be around at the time. She needed to be around people like Charlie and his family. 'He is kind of cute,' Rebecca thought to herself. She eventually convinced herself that a guy like him had to have a girlfriend and that she would be better off thinking of other things than of how cute he was. Rebecca turned and looked at the landscape beside the train. As she stared out the window, Rebecca found herself reminiscing about her old school, Beauxbatons, and her old friends. She missed them so. Though, she had kept in touch with them over the summer and when Wadsworth died they came to the funeral, there was a feeling that she wouldn't get to keep their friendship forever. 'I need to get a handle on these feeling. I'll make new friends. I just need to try,' she thought as she watched the scenery pass.  
  
Rebecca was still gazing out the window when a figure appeared in the doorway. She looked up to see Ryan standing there.  
  
"Hey what's up?"  
  
"Well, not much. Russel got up and Cassie immediately dragged him to go see Kirsta and the rest of my friends are asleep so I decided to come see how you were doing?"  
  
They smiled at each other and Ryan took a seat so that he was directly looking at Rebecca.  
  
"I can't tell you how happy I am that we are going to be in the same school. It will be so great being in the same house." Ryan said.  
  
"Do you really think that we will be in the same house?" Rebecca questioned with doubt in her voice.  
  
Ryan responded with more confidence, "Why of course we will be in the same house. There is no other possibility. It will be just like the old times before we had to go to different school. Just you wait. You'll be a Slytherin before you know it.."  
  
As Ryan finished, Rebecca couldn't help but notice that there was something different about Ryan. She hadn't spent much time with him on a constant basis like when they were little, but even now and at Diagon Alley she could tell there were differences.  
  
"Who knows you might be right," Rebecca said when Ryan was final done telling her to trust him with which house she will be in.  
  
"Don't worry about anything. I'll help you through the transition." Ryan said trying to reassure her everything would be okay. All of a sudden another figure appeared before Rebecca could say another word to Ryan.  
  
It was Cassie.  
  
"Hi!" she said in her falsetto voice. "How are you guys doing? I just came into to find out more about you cousin, Ryan. So Rebecca, where did you go to school before this?"  
  
At the word cousin Rebecca looked at Ryan with a confused look. In a split second Rebecca decided to go along with it. She really didn't care if everyone thought that she was his cousin.  
  
'Maybe I won't have girls give me dirty looks when I am with him then,' Rebecca thought.  
  
"I went to Beauxbatons, before I was informed that I was transferring to Hogwarts." Rebecca responded to Cassie's first question not aware that she would be subjected to a million peculiar questions from Cassie that had nothing to do with Rebecca.  
  
When Ryan grew tired of Cassie's chattering, he pondered out loud, "I wonder where Russel is?"  
  
"He's with Kirsta, of course," Cassie retorted.  
  
Rebecca finally had a question to throw at question Cassie's way, so she asked, "Who's Kirsta?"  
  
This sent Cassie into a monologue about Kirsta, her best friend, and all of the times they spent together.  
  
Finally, the train stopped and they were going to get off of the train. Cassie grabbed Ryan by the hand and they left the compartment with Rebecca behind them. They got off the train altogether, but in the confusion of all the students getting off the train Rebecca was separated from Ryan and Cassie and left to fend for herself.  
  
Luckily, a very tall, huge man directed her to a carriage that would take the students the rest of the way to Hogwarts. 


	3. Introductions

Rebecca climbed into the carriage as she was told and found herself sitting across from Charlie, the boy from the family that helped her to Platform 9 ¾. They smiled at each other.  
  
"Hello, I'm Charlie Weasley."  
  
"It's very nice to meet you Charlie, I am Rebecca Carter. I really appreciated your family helping me out at the station. I was sorry I couldn't wait for them to get on the platform and say a proper thank you to them."  
  
"Oh that's okay. The look in your face when you found out how to get to the train was thanks enough. Bill probably was the only one that didn't get to see it, but he is Head Boy so he probably had enough on his mind not to really care too much."  
  
Rebecca smiled. "So Charlie, what house are you in?"  
  
"I am in Gryffindor."  
  
"Really, is it nice?"  
  
"Yeah I like it. All of my friends are there and we have a good time. What house do you want in?"  
  
"I don't really know. I only know one person here and they are in Slytherin."  
  
"Really who is that?"  
  
"Ryan Malfoy, I was actually following him off the train, but lost him in all of the commotion."  
  
At the Ryan's name, Charlie made a strange face but returned to a smile shortly after. "That's too bad, but at least you didn't get ditched by your friends for their girlfriends." Rebecca was shocked at what Charlie said, but he continued. "Well actually they didn't ditch me. I just didn't want to be in a crowded carriage with all of them. You saw how crowded our compartment was on the train."  
  
"Yeah, I don't think I would have been able to stay in there too long."  
  
Charlie and Rebecca continued to talk. They discovered a little bit about each. Rebecca found out that Charlie was the seeker on the Gryffindor team and he didn't have a girlfriend because between practice and studying he didn't have a lot of time for one. As for Charlie, not only did he find out all about her old school, but also that Rebecca was an orphan and that her guardian had died earlier in the summer. Rebecca felt very comfortable talking with Charlie and all her nervousness disappeared allowing her to open up to him about her life. The carriages continued making their way to the school and Rebecca caught a glimpse of the castle. Rebecca so was memorized by the sight of the castle she didn't hear Charlie ask her why she transferred to Hogwarts.  
  
"Wow," whispered Rebecca. "Is that Hogwarts?"  
  
"Yep that's the school." They both looked out the window. The carriage stopped at the front door and all the students get out.  
  
Rebecca and Charlie parted when a teacher came up to Rebecca and said, "Hello, Rebecca Carter? I'm Professor McGonagall. Please follow me."  
  
Rebecca nodded, followed the professor, and started to feel nervous again.  
  
Rebecca walked with Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall. The ceiling looked like the night sky and Rebecca could not help, but stare up at it. As the neared the front of the room Rebecca notice there was a chair up against the wall all by its self.  
  
"You may sit there until you are sorted, Ms. Carter," McGonagall said pointing to the lonely chair.  
  
"Thank you Professor," Rebecca said heading towards the chair.  
  
'Great now I get to sit here and have everyone wonder why I'm sitting by myself.' She sat there staring at her feet and feeling less and less comfortable as the room became filled with other students. All the students looked happy to be back with their friends. Rebecca looked up at them intermittently, careful not to make any eye contract until finally, a group of students came into the hall lead by Professor McGonagall.  
  
'Must be first years getting ready to be sorted. Wish I could be with them. At least I wouldn't be over here by myself,' Rebecca thought as she watched the group.  
  
Before the first years were sorted, a man stood up and started to speak.  
  
"Hello and welcome to Hogwarts for another year of school. For those of you who are new, I'm Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts. Professor McGonagall will start the sorting ceremony now."  
  
With those words, McGonagall brought out a stool with a very old hat on it. She sat the stool down and walked to the side. The hat started to talk in rhyme. Rebecca listened closely as the hat told of the four houses at Hogwarts. Gryffindor was for the brave of heart, while Ravenclaw was for the cleverest of students. Hufflepuffs were loyal and true and Slytherin students were known to use any means to reach there ends.  
  
The hat ended its poem and McGonagall announced that they would start sorting the students alphabetically. As she read the names of the first years and the sorting hat sorted the student, Rebecca sat on her chair thinking.  
  
'I doubt that I will be put in Gryffindor, since I am not that brave of a person. Just look at how nervous I am about changing school. I have been told I am sort of clever and that I am loyal, so I might be put in Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff. Of course, when I need to get something done I do things that I normally won't do to get it done. I guess Ryan was right there is no way that I would be in another house other than Slytherin.'  
  
The last first year named Oliver Wood was sorted into Gryffindor and Dumbledore stood up again.  
  
"Now that we have sorted out the first years, it is time to sort a new student. I would like to personally welcome a new fifth year student to Hogwarts. Rebecca Carter is joining us from Beauxbatons," Dumbledore said looking at Rebecca giving her a sign to come up and get sorted.  
  
Rebecca rose from her chair and walked up to the stool cautiously. She could feel all the eyes in the room upon her and the anxiety in her raise. Dumbledore gave her a smile that helped her to become more relaxed, because she knew that if the headmaster was friendly than she would be okay at school. She sat on the stool and Professor McGonagall put the hat on Rebecca's head.  
  
Rebecca sat there for what seemed like forever to her when finally the hat announced "GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
To say Rebecca was shocked would be an understatement, since this was the last house she ever thought that she would be in. As she made her way to the Gryffindor table she caught sight of Ryan sitting with his friends at the Slytherin table. He had a very surprised look on his face. All she could do was just shrug at him and continue to walk to her seat.  
  
She took the last available seat at the table and saw that that she was sitting in front of Charlie. She gave him a small smile. Charlie leaned over the table towards her and said, "Not where you expected, huh?"  
  
"No," Rebecca softly said staring at the plate in front of her. Dinner appeared on the table and everyone started to eat. Rebecca did not realize how little she had eaten all day and was so glad to see the food. As the students eat, conversations spun around what people did for the summer and introducing Rebecca to people.  
  
Charlie started out the introductions. "Okay guys I would like you to meet Rebecca Carter."  
  
Everyone responded with a "hi" as they continued to eat.  
  
"Rebecca, this is Greg," Charlie said pointing at a tall guy with dark hair and dark blue eyes. Charlie continued with "and this is Sara," gesturing at a girl with curly chestnut brown hair and deep blue eyes. Pointing at a boy about Charlie's size with broader shoulders, blonde hair, and green eyes Charlie said, "This is James." "And this is Jacquelyn," gesturing at a girl about Rebecca's build with straight strawberry blonde hair and blue eyes. "Cathrine is the brunette over there and you are sitting next to Colin." Cathrine was looked to be a couple inches shorter than Rebecca and Colin with his jet black hair and brown eyes appeared to be a little smaller than Charlie.  
  
"It's very nice to meet all of you" Rebecca said when Charlie was done with the introductions.  
  
They all continue to eat with a little small talk here and there. Rebecca still felt a little uncomfortable until Charlie turned towards her with his soothing smile and started to fill Rebecca in on what ever one was like.  
  
"Greg is on the quidditch team with me and he's my best friend. Great guy you'll see. Sara is our biggest cheerleader in the stands. She's got lots of spunk. James is a prefect. Jacquelyn and him were up against each other for it, so they have a bit of rivalry when it comes to grades. Now you need to watch out for Colin and Cathrine. They are really nice and would give you the shirt off their back, but they both got a prankster streak and together they can come up with the craziest things. We had to get them to promise to stop experimenting on us with their inventions. It's a wonder they haven't been expelled yet."  
  
Charlie laughed a little thinking of the high jinks Cathrine and Colin had set up in their years at Hogwarts. Rebecca smile and looked down to the other end of the table. She scanned the group seeing the different students. She recognized Bill, Charlie's older brother and then she saw another one of Charlie's brother. 'I think I heard his name announce when he was getting sorted. I think his name was Percy,' Rebecca thought to herself as she scanned the rest of the Gryffindor students. Her eyes landed on another red haired boy who looked like he might be as tall as Charlie. She didn't recognize him from the Weasley family she met on the platform, so Rebecca turned to Charlie and asked, "Do you have a cousin here too?"  
  
Charlie looked at her puzzled and looked in the direction Rebecca was looking. He turned back with a smile and said, "Oh no that is Angel Dark or A.J. for short. He's one of the beaters on the team. Actually he is probably the best one in the whole school. He really nice and has a razor sharp wit. He has gotten us out of a lot of jams on and off the field."  
  
Rebecca nodded and went back to eating. Charlie pointed out a few more of the students and confirmed that Percy was the name of his younger brother as he continued to eat. He told Rebecca that the man that ushered her into the carriage was Hagrid the ground keeper and keeper of the keys when she asked.  
  
Eventually the students finished dinner. The tables were cleared and Dumbledore stood up yet again. "I hope that this will be another good year here at Hogwarts. I would also like to remind all of you that the Dark Forest is forbidden to all students. With that I wish you all a pleasant night and good luck with your classes tomorrow. Good Night."  
  
After Dumbledore finished, the students started to get up and leave to go to there dormitories.  
  
As they all started to get up from the table, A.J. walked up to Charlie and Greg and "Hey Weasley! Hey Bell! Ready for another season?"  
  
"Hey Dark! Can't wait this should be an awesome season with everyone returning," Greg responded.  
  
"Hey Dark! Of course I am ready," said Charlie grabbing Rebecca's hand as she walked past. Rebecca stopped and looked at him.  
  
"Dark, I would like you to meet Rebecca. Rebecca this is A.J."  
  
"Hello Rebecca," A.J. said as he shook Rebecca's hand. "It's very nice to meet you."  
  
"It's very nice to meet you, too." Rebecca said with a smile.  
  
"Well I am a sixth year around here so if these guys give you too much trouble I can help out." Charlie and Greg gave a 'who us?' look at A.J.  
  
"Thanks I'll keep that in mind," Rebecca laughed.  
  
"Rebecca I am sorry to have to do this but I need to take these two to Captian Woods."  
  
"What does Aaron want to see us for?" asked Greg as Rebecca said, "That's okay, I'll see you all later."  
  
Rebecca turned and started to walk away following the rest of the Gryffindors up to the tower. The group went up stairs and stopped when they came to a painting of a Fat Lady dressed in pink.  
  
The lady said, "Password."  
  
"pen-oay ease-play," said James. The students walked in after the portrait swung open.  
  
Rebecca stepped in and looked around at the cozy common room. The fire was going and Rebecca looked around as she walked to her dorm room. She could not help herself but wonder what the other houses' common rooms looked like. There was this nagging feeling that she was in the wrong house and that it was only a matter of time before someone figured it out.  
  
She headed up the stairs and went into the 5th year girls' dorm room. The other girls' trunks along with Rebecca's were already in the room. Everyone started to get ready to go to bed.  
  
As she was in the bathroom getting ready, Rebecca was feeling really tired and was frustrated. She didn't really know anyone and even though she had been introduced to a few she didn't feel comfortable around them. And would she ever feel comfortable around them when she did not think she was supposed to be in this house. Rebecca entered the room and headed towards her bed with this thought in her head.  
  
She was climbing in when Cathrine, Jacquelyn, and Sara came up to her. Sara asked timidly, "So, um, Rebecca when did you meet Charlie? We thought we knew everyone that he knew here."  
  
Rebecca never liked people prying into her business, but the manner that Sara asked the question and the way the other girls looked at her when Sara asked made Rebecca not mind as much.  
  
"I met him and his family when I was trying to get on to the Platform to get to the train. They were nice enough to help me out, but I actually didn't get to talk to Charlie until the carriage ride from the train to the castle."  
  
"Oh," the girls said with a smile as they sat on Rebecca's bed.  
  
"Sorry about that we just couldn't figure out why we didn't meet you on the train if you knew Charlie," said Jacquelyn.  
  
"Oh that is okay," Rebecca reassured them. The girls quizzed Rebecca and found out about her and her family. After about an hour of questioning the girls decided it was time to go to bed. Rebecca drifted off to sleep.  
  
She awoke the next morning feeling that everything that had transpired the day before was just a dream. When she opened up her eyes she realized that the feeling was fictitious. She was still in Gryffindor. Rebecca gave out a quiet sigh and got up to get ready for breakfast and her first day of classes at Hogwarts. 


	4. Getting Familiar

After Rebecca was dressed, she headed to the Great Hall for breakfast. When all the students were in the hall and eating there breakfast, class schedules were passed out. Rebecca looked at hers and found that fifth year Gryffindors had Potions, one of Rebecca's favorite subject, first thing off and it was with the fifth year Slytherins.  
  
'Well at least I will get to see a really familiar face this morning,' Rebecca thought to herself. She was about the only one with a positive spin on the class schedule. All the other fifth years were groaning.  
  
"How can they do this to us," whined Greg.  
  
"Yeah, it's bad enough that Snape doesn't like us but putting us in his way first thing off is cruel and unusual punishment," piped in James.  
  
"Actually, what is cruel and unusual is having potions with Slytherin," corrected Colin. Everyone agreed to what he said.  
  
Charlie just smirked and said, "Just stay out of Snape's way and follow the directions carefully and you won't lose any points."  
  
"Yeah this from the guy that can't get on Snape's good side," laughed Greg. Charlie and his friends all have a good laugh at this.  
  
"Yeah, well if Colin would pull a few pranks in that class then some of the heat would be off of me." Charlie said giving Colin a pleading looking.  
  
"Don't give me those puppy dog eyes. I have gotten in enough trouble with him without any pranks." Colin stated  
  
"We had some good pranks that we could have done in that class if it wasn't for Snape," Cathrine added disgusted at the thought of the wasted pranks.  
  
"Oh you guys will come up with more pranks that Snape can't spoil," said Sara, "Now come on its time to get to class."  
  
Everyone starts heading to his or her class. Rebecca gets up and starts walking to class alone. She didn't really know which where she is headed and didn't know who to ask exactly. All of the sudden, Charlie comes walking up to her.  
  
"Do you know where you are going?" he asked.  
  
"Other than the room is called the potion's room. No." responded Rebecca.  
  
"Well, what you do is go done these stairs, take a left at the bottom, and it is the third door on your right. Got that?"  
  
"Yeah, thanks," said Rebecca and she headed to class. She got to the right room with out any problems and got herself settled in. Ryan came in with his friends and got settled in the row ahead of Rebecca. They exchanged smiles and talked a little as the class room filled up. Charlie and his friend got to class right before they the professor showed up.  
  
Professor Snape came in and started calling names out without hesitation.  
  
"Greg Bell."  
  
"Here"  
  
"Cassandra Burk"  
  
"Present"  
  
As he called roll, Snape paced back and forth in the front of the classroom in an intimidating manner.  
  
"Rebecca Carter."  
  
"Here"  
  
He stopped when he called her name and looked right at her.  
  
"Oh, yes, the new student," he said and continued roll call. The way that he said those words made Rebecca very nervous. When he finished, he gave the class a smile that scared the whole class. What he said next scared them all to death.  
  
"Let's see how much you all remember." Soft groans filled the room. Rebecca had a feeling that if anyone had complained any louder and points would be taken off.  
  
"Now where do we begin?" Snape started. "Oh, yes. Can anyone tell me what is in a forgetfulness potion?"  
  
No one seemed willing to answer Snape's question. Rebecca looked around the room and saw no one was even looking at Snape. Then Rebecca did something she never thought she would do. She raised her hand, even though she was nervous that she may not be right.  
  
"Yes, Ms. Carter. What is the answer?" Rebecca gave him the list of ingredients for the potion. When she finished, Snape was staring at her. Rebecca wanted to find a hole to crawl in.  
  
'Why did I do that? If he would have asked me I at least wouldn't have looked as big of a loser as I do volunteering a wrong answer,' Rebecca said to herself.  
  
"Ms. Carter that was impressive. Not only did you give the right ingredients but also gave them in the proper mixing order. Five points to Gryffindor for your answer. Now can you explain to the class why it is important to know in what order to mix things?"  
  
Rebecca didn't know whether Snape was trying to challenge her or what, but everyone's eyes were on her.  
  
"I believe you need to be aware of mixing order, because adding in a different order may produce the same results in a general sense, but the strength of the potion comes into question."  
  
When Rebecca finished, everyone turned to see Snape's reaction.  
  
He smiled and said, "Very good. Now can you tell me anything else that can compromise a potion's integrity? If you answer correctly I will give five more points to Gryffindor."  
  
Everyone turned toward Rebecca waiting for her answer.  
  
"Well," Rebecca timidly started, "there are two more that I can think of off the top of my head. One being how long you simmer the potion and the other being how much you stir the potion. Both can change the consistence of the potion which can alter the effectiveness of the potion."  
  
As before, the class turned to Snape to see if she was correct.  
  
"Once again I have to say very good Ms. Carter. Ten points to Gryffindor, since you did not hesitate to give both answers. I suggest the rest of you take notes," Snape said glaring at the rest of the class, but smiling at Rebecca.  
  
Rebecca was relieved that she had remember everything so well and everyone smiled at her which made her feel more at ease. The rest of the period went pretty much the same. Rebecca answered questions and the other students took notes.  
  
At the end of the period, all the students packed up to leave. Several students walked up to Rebecca as she was putting her school supplies away to tell her good job.  
  
As Rebecca headed out of the room, Snape stopped her at the door.  
  
"That was quite a performance today. I don't think I have ever had a fifth year student that was aware of potion potency and what can affect it. Keep up the good work."  
  
"Thanks," said Rebecca with a partial smile as she side-stepped out of the room. In the hall, Ryan came up to Rebecca.  
  
"Way to go in Potions. I didn't know you knew that much about potions," Ryan said as his group came up to join him.  
  
Ryan's friends made her nervous, so Rebecca responded timidly, "Well, it was one of my favorite subjects at my old school. I was just glad I remembered what he was asking questions on."  
  
"You and the whole class. I don't think Snape has very been in that good of a mood after a class with Gryffindor."  
  
"Well, I got to get going and finding my next class. I'll see you all later," Rebecca said and then she turned to leave.  
  
She had just passed Russel when Charlie came running up to her. "That was awesome what you did in potions. You probably saved Gryffindor from losing points today instead of winning them. I don't even think James and Jacquelyn were ready for that oral pop quiz. Anyways, I know that you don't know your way around the school so the gang and I whipped up this map for you."  
  
"Wow. Thank you so much." Rebecca took the map and saw that it was enchanted.  
  
"All you do is say where you want to go and it will show you the way. Watch. I want to go to Herbology."  
  
All of the sudden the map had a "you are here" sign on it and an arrow to the direction Rebecca needed to go.  
  
Rebecca looked at it and turned to  
  
Charlie to say, "I really appreciate this."  
  
"Well we appreciated you taking the questions in Potions. Anyways, I'll see you in Herbology. We are going to hang back to make sure the map doesn't lead you astray."  
  
"Okay, I'll see you all in class." Rebecca turned and left to follow the map.  
  
She made it to class in fine shape thanks to the map. Unfortunately it was probably one of her least favorite subject so she wasn't too excited to be in the class. She was glad to make it to through the class and that it was now time for lunch.  
  
She took out the map that Charlie gave her and said "I want to go to lunch." The map became animated and she headed to the Great Hall. After lunch there were more classes and Rebecca found her way to each of them with help of the map. She could not believe that Charlie and his friends thought to do that for her.  
  
By the end of the week she had the lay out of the castle down and she wasn't even confused when the stairs changed. Rebecca was barely using the map any more. In fact, Rebecca felt that she was only carrying it around for security.  
  
One day during lunch, Rebecca sat next to a first year student, who was in distress.  
  
"Are you okay?" Rebecca asked her.  
  
The first year looked up at her and said, "I don't know anyone here and I keep getting lost."  
  
The poor girl's big brown eyes were welling up with tears. Rebecca immediately thought of the map. She hadn't used it in several days, and she really didn't need it any more.  
  
"You know I remember that feeling. I actually have this map that helped me learn my way around here." Rebecca took the map out of her pocket and looked at the light brown-haired girl and said, "Here you can have it so that you won't get it lost any more."  
  
"Thank you so much," the girl said as she took the map. "My name is Lauren Kimmel, by the way."  
  
"Well it is very nice to meet you Lauren. I'm Rebecca Carter." The girls exchanged smile and Rebecca continued, "Now to work the map all you have to do is say 'I want to go to.' and tell them the class or place you want to go and it will show you how to get there."  
  
"That's great. You won't believe how nervous I was getting when someone would even mention going out of the common room."  
  
"Well now you don't have to worry about it." Lauren and Rebecca went back to eating. Rebecca was happy because Lauren looked so much calmer than before and she was actually talking to other first years about things other than schoolwork, which she later confessed to Rebecca that she really hadn't done before. Rebecca headed off to Defense against the Dark Arts satisfied that she had done a good deed.  
  
Rebecca enjoyed Defense against the Dark Arts. Professor Quirrell lectured most of the class. He did ask a few questions which Rebecca answered without any hesitation.  
  
At the end of the period, Rebecca had some free time before dinner so she headed up to her room to figure out what she need to do that night for homework.  
  
When she entered her room she saw a brown barn owl standing at the foot of her bed. Rebecca looked at it for a moment and then realized that the owl belonged to her best friend from Beauxbaton, Stacy. She smiled, put her books on the bed, and walked over to the owl.  
  
After untying letter from the owl's leg, Rebecca sat on her bed to read it as the owl looked at her waiting so see if she would send a reply.  
  
Dear Rebecca,  
  
Hey Girl! How is everything going at Hogwarts? Everything is going well here. It is really different not having you around. I think I have gotten in more trouble this past week than I have the whole time we had been here together. Just goes to show that I need a grounding force so that I don't get carried away with my plans. Anyways, everyone misses you here. I read your last letter out to everyone and for the last couple of days everyone keeps talking about how you should really be here with us. Professor DuFont was asking about you the other day. He was quite disgusted that his prize student didn't return this year. In Defense against the Dark Arts class, we sat there as DuFont asked question that only you would understand. I guess I should stop telling you what is going on here so that you don't get schoolsick for this place. I have to get going to class. Write soon.  
  
Later,  
  
Stacy  
  
P.S. Colleen, Gwen, Scott, and the rest of the gang send their love.  
  
Rebecca smiled as she finished the letter and got up to write Stacy back.  
  
Dear Stacy,  
  
Hey kid! How everything is going? Life is better since the last time I wrote. . I have to say that I don't feel nearly as nervous as I was before I got here. I got here fine and I now know my way around the castle. I should probably give credit to Charlie Weasley for making my transition easier. He and his friends made a magic map that assisted in me learning my way around. Anyways, don't, and I repeat don't, stop telling me what is going on there. I really want to know and don't worry I won't get too "schoolsick."(Cute word for it). Tell everyone hi for me and I will write them all when something more interesting comes up. I miss you all!  
  
Later Days,  
  
Rebecca  
  
After rolling up the letter, Rebecca walked over to Stacy's owl and tied it on. The owl took off a minute later. Rebecca watched as the owl flew away. She didn't leave the window until she couldn't see the owl anymore. Sara walked into the room as Rebecca turned from the window.  
  
"Hey, what is up?" Sara asked as she flopped on to her own bed.  
  
Rebecca walked over to her own bed as she said, "Not much. I got a letter from my friend, Stacy, and I just sent my reply back."  
  
"That's cool. Do you miss everyone back at Beauxbaton?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"What were they like?"  
  
Rebecca started telling Sara about here friends at her old school pactically not missing a detail about them. She told of Stacy with her jokes and constantly changing crushes. Then she talked of Colleen and how she knew everything. Rebecca continued through her friends there giving their little quirks that she missed.  
  
When Rebecca finished, Sara knew that Rebecca needed to talk about something more than her old school so she asked, "Its hard coming to a new school isn't it.?"  
  
"Yeah, there is a different rhythm around here. Sometimes I wonder if I will ever be comfortable with it."  
  
"Don't worry you'll settle in to it. Just wait and see." Sara smiled at Rebecca and Rebecca smiled back. "Come on let's go down for dinner." Sara got up and started to walk out the door.  
  
"I'll be right behind you," Rebecca said slowly getting up thinking about what Sara said.  
  
As Sara had said, Rebecca was finding herself settling into the rhythm of Hogwarts. There were classes like potions and defense against the dark arts that she excelled in giving her confidence with her schoolwork and eventually her place in the school.  
  
Though she walked to classes by herself, Rebecca didn't have problems talking to anyone that she came into contact with. This made her quite popular not only with fifth years but also with all the other students of the school.  
  
Students from Slytherin really were the only people Rebecca had trouble with. They seemed not to associate with too many people outside of Slytherin. Rebecca actually helped Colin and Cathrine set up a prank on Sam, Dan, and Hans when she purposely distracted them as she saw Colin and Cathrine switched their regular ink with disappearing ink, because she was tired of the guys following Ryan around like lost puppies.  
  
She could talk to Ryan every once in a while, but conversations would be cut short, because Sam, or one of Ryan's other friends would show up and Rebecca felt the need to stop the conversation so Ryan could tell them what to do.  
  
Russel was Ryan's only friend that seemed to make his own decisions. When he walked up to Ryan and Rebecca while they were talking, he would actually join in on the conversation. Other than Russel, Cassie was about the only other Slytherin that Rebecca could talk around. But eventually Cassie would say something that would make Ryan stop talking. Kirsta, who a sixth year Slytherin, had about the same affect as Cassie did. Rebecca had to admit it was a blessing in disguise not always talking to Ryan. It made her be more out going and meet new people and work with whoever she need to in class.  
  
One day in late September, Rebecca found herself partnered with Charlie in Herbology lab. They were assigned to replanting different types of plants into different containers with the appropriate soil for each type of plant, identification, and proper care instructions for each. Rebecca gave out a sigh.  
  
Charlie looked at her and asked, "What's the matter? Do you want a different partner?"  
  
Rebecca turned towards him, put her hands on her hips and jokingly said, "No but you might want one before too long. I am not that good in Herbology. I always forget something."  
  
They both laughed a little and Charlie said, "That's okay. I am not that good either. Well just have to take our time, double check everything, and do the best we can, okay?"  
  
"Sounds good to me." Charlie and Rebecca worked diligently all period long and by the end they had did everything they were suppose to.  
  
Professor Sprout came over at the end and checked everything. "Very good work you two. Everything is done as it is supposed to be," she said as she walked away.  
  
Rebecca and Charlie looked at each other with smiles on their faces. "That was awesome," Charlie said.  
  
"I have never gotten that assessment in this class before, not even in my old school," said Rebecca. They left the class for lunch happy and contented with the work they had did.  
  
Rebecca was about to walk into the Great Hall, when she saw Lauren surrounded by group of Slytherin students. Lauren looked upset so Rebecca walked over to see what was going on.  
  
As she got closer, she heard Lauren say, "Give it back to me, please."  
  
'What did they take from her,' Rebecca thought as she got closer. Rebecca looked to see what it could be. Then she saw it. It was a piece of paper that a boy was holding over his head so that Lauren couldn't get it. 'It must be the map I gave her,' was the thought that raced through Rebecca's head.  
  
She walked past a short brown haired, second year Gryffindor by the name of Aisha Cortes, who turned and whispered, "oh good Rebecca you got to help her." Rebecca nodded and took another step forward.  
  
"Hey, what is going on?" Rebecca asked when she reached the group.  
  
"Rebecca, it dropped out of my book and I was going to pick it up when he took it out of my grasp," Lauren said desperately.  
  
Rebecca could see in Lauren's eyes that she was glad to see Rebecca, so she asked Lauren, "Is that what I think it is?" Lauren nodded.  
  
"So they took my map from you," Rebecca said giving Lauren a look to let her know that everything would be okay. Lauren nodded again. Rebecca turned to look at the boy with the map and said, "Okay, give me back my map."  
  
"And what if I don't," the boy said defiantly.  
  
Rebecca was about to respond when Russel came up behind the boy and took the map out of his hands. Rebecca didn't know what to think about this. Would Russel give her the map without any problems or would she have to get it from him?  
  
Everyone in the Hall was waiting to see what Russel was going to do. He turned to the boy and said, "I don't care what your reason for picking up this paper was or why you wouldn't return it to the owner when they asked. Your actions were disrespectful and since I have it now and it is going back to where it belongs." With that statement he handed it back to Rebecca. She gave a smile, told him thanks, walked over Lauren, and led her into the Great Hall for lunch.  
  
When Rebecca turned around she saw Charlie and the rest of the guys on Gryffindor quidditch team had been behind her but had turn to go in for lunch.  
  
"Rebecca, I am sorry. I don't use it to often anymore. I only keep it for emergency," Lauren said as they walked through the doors.  
  
"That's okay. I am just glad that I saw it happening and could step in to sort of help. Here, take the map and just be careful who you drop it around that boy," said Rebecca trying to calm Lauren down.  
  
Lauren nodded and took the map. She did feel a lot better now. The girls found two seats together. Aisha walked in and sat on the other side of Lauren and they started to talk.  
  
Rebecca found herself sitting in front of Charlie. He looked up and asked, "Get everything settled out there?"  
  
"Yeah, thanks for backing me up," Rebecca said.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I saw you walking away when Lauren and I were turning to come in. You weren't very far away from us."  
  
"Yeah, well if you needed help we would have helped, but Russel jumped in and my motto is 'If someone has to cross a Slytherin and a Slytherin is willing to do it; then let them do it.'"  
  
"I know that I haven't been here that long, but after what just happened outside I believe you have a good motto."  
  
Charlie and Rebecca exchanged smiles again for the second time that day. For the rest of the day, the students buzzed about the commotion before lunch. A.J., being the nice guy he was, tried to get people to settle down, but Rebecca and Lauren still found themselves mobbed with questions about the incident.  
  
Sara waited until later that night to sit down and talked to Rebecca about what was happened. As Rebecca wrote a letter to Stacy telling her the events of the day, Sara got Rebecca to open up more than anyone else had all day and to admit that she was relieved to see Charlie and the other guys when she turned towards the hall, but seeing Charlie was what really made her calm down about the what ifs that had been running through her mind.  
  
By the end of the week, the questions had died down and Rebecca was thankful for it. The teachers were piling on the homework now and distractions were not welcomed in Rebecca's eyes. There were many times that Rebecca could be found in the library to get information on one of her subjects during a free period or after dinner.  
  
One Thursday in early October free period, Rebecca walked into the library with a mission. Her goal was to get all of her research done so that she did not have to come into over the weekend. The first Quidditch game was going to be this weekend and Rebecca didn't want to be worried about research while watching the game.  
  
She had a list of the books that she need and knew where most of them were except for one, Rare Magical Roots and Their Uses. After going to the Herbology section, where it was supposed to be in, Rebecca looked for it. She finally spotted the book on the top shelf. Rebecca didn't know whether she would be able to reach the book herself or not but she had to try. Getting up on her tip-toes, Rebecca stretched her right arm up to reach the book as far as she could and was only able to brush her fingers against the spine of the book.  
  
She had just realized that she would not be able to get the book off shelf herself, when a hand came up over her right hand and took the book off the shelf.  
  
"Was this the book that you wanted?" someone said as they handed the book to her.  
  
"Yeah," said Rebecca as she turned around to see who got the book.  
  
It was Charlie. Rebecca smiled at him and said, "Thanks so much."  
  
"No problem. Maybe after your done you'll let me see it."  
  
"Sure," Rebecca said as she and Charlie parted.  
  
Rebecca had accomplished her mission after another trip to the library after dinner that day. She gathered up all her books and headed back to the common room.  
  
Her load was very heavy and Rebecca was amazed that she had gotten herself and all the books up the portrait without dropping anything or tripping on a stair. As she was walking toward the fat lady, she heard footsteps behind her.  
  
Before she could turn around to see who it was, Rebecca heard a voice say, "Hey, do you need help with those books?"  
  
"That would be great," responded Rebecca as she turned around to see who she was talking to.  
  
Once again it was Charlie. He was returning from quidditch practice. Rebecca couldn't help but smile as Charlie took some of the books from her. He was turning into her hero of the day.  
  
"Thank you so much I didn't realize how heavy they all were," Rebecca told Charlie.  
  
"Well, I am glad I can help. So what are all these books for?" asked Charlie looking at the titles of the books.  
  
"They're research for the homework that was assigned for this weekend. I just wanted to get the research done before the match on Saturday."  
  
"Sounds like a smart plan. Wish I would I thought of it. Are you excited about the match?"  
  
"Yeah, it will be fun to see you, Greg, A.J., and everyone else play." After they gave the fat lady the password they walked in. Rebecca found an open table and put her books on it. Charlie put the books he was carrying on top of the other books.  
  
As she settled in to her homework, Rebecca looked around to see all the students studying for different subjects. Lauren and a group of first years were studying for Charms, while Aisha and some second years were working on transfiguration homework. She continued to scan the room seeing what everone else was doing and finally turned to her own studies.  
  
It was about 11:30 when Rebecca finished with everything that she wanted to do that night. She got all her homework done for the next day and a lot of the notes she need for the weekend done.  
  
The only other people in the common room when Rebecca was getting up to leave were Charlie and Greg. They were doing homework and talking loud enough so that as Rebecca walked past them to get to her dorm room, she over heard part of their conversation.  
  
"Dude, do you really need new arm pads?" Greg asked Charlie.  
  
"Well, not right now. But my other ones are really getting beat up. Hopefully, I'll be able to get some new ones after Christmas when .," Charlie started to say, but stopped when he turned to see Rebecca walking past them rubbing her eyes.  
  
"Tired, huh?" he asked her. Rebecca turned and nodded at him as she yawned. She was exhausted but she still noticed that Greg was staring at Charlie with a questioning look on his face.  
  
Charlie did not seem to notice Greg's stare as he continued, "Did you get everything done that you wanted to?"  
  
"Yeah, I got most of it done. I should have a pretty easy weekend, if the teachers don't add too much on top of it tomorrow."  
  
"I think that is the hope of everyone." Rebecca shook her head in agreement.  
  
"Before I forget, the book that you wanted to look at is on the top of that stack," she pointed at the books and Charlie nodded. "Well, good night guys," Rebecca said as she turned to the leave.  
  
"Night, Rebecca," the guys said.  
  
When she was out of sight and Greg thought she couldn't hear them, he turned to Charlie and asked, "So what do you think about Rebecca?"  
  
There was a pause. Rebecca heard Greg's question and felt wide awake. She did not like to ease drop but she couldn't help herself this time, because she really wanted to know what people actually thought of her at Hogwarts, so she stopped where she was.  
  
After a moment, Charlie finally answered, "She is a great girl. She's nice to everyone, she'll stand up to bullies, and she has no problem being herself. . What do you think of her?"  
  
"Oh, I totally agree with you. I like her, too. It is really cool how she is so friendly to everyone. It is no wonder that she is so popular in such a short time. She helps any one that needs it and you forgot to say that she is really smart. I also find it fascinating that she doesn't seem to mind that she walks everywhere by herself. Could you imagine having that confidence that you don't need to be in a group all the time? . Oh wait I am talking to the guy that doesn't need a girlfriend when everyone else has one and has no problem taking off by himself when the group does date type stuff."  
  
With that the guys started laughing and Charlie said something else, but Rebecca started heading up to her room and their voices had become more muffled.  
  
She didn't care that she did not know what they were talking about now, because she knew that they thought she was great. Now she could alleviate her paranoid feeling that everyone was being nice to her because she was the "new kid." Rebecca made it up the stairs and to her bed.  
  
'People actually like me around her,' was Rebecca last thought as she drifted off to sleep with a smile on her face. 


	5. Quidditch

The next day the whole school was excited about the first quidditch match to the year. It was going to be Gryffindor vs. Hufflepuff. All the anxiety for the first match made it hard for every student even the first years from Muggle families to concentrate on the schoolwork that need to be done Friday.  
  
Everyone was glad for dinner time since it meant that the weekend started. Rebecca was thankful when dinner was over with and they headed to the common rooms, because she had a pretty bad headache from classes.  
  
Up in the common room, Rebecca plopped down in a chair and closed her eyes and propped up her head with her left hand. She sat there for a while when she heard one of the girl say, "You know Rebecca if you want to sleep your bed is probably a better place."  
  
Rebecca opened her eyes to see Cathrine, Sara, and Jacquelyn looking at her. Sara gave Rebecca a concerned look and asked, "Are you okay?"  
  
Lauren was walking by with Aisha and her other friend, Carolyn, and looked over to see what was going on. "You don't look to good," she said.  
  
Rebecca looked at them all with their wide eyes. "I. I just have a headache," she stuttered.  
  
Charlie, Greg, Colin, and James came in the room and headed to the girls. "Hey, what is going on?" asked Greg walking over to Sara and put his arms around her.  
  
Cathrine piped up and said, "Rebecca doesn't look to good," as Colin came over to her.  
  
James stopped next to Jacquelyn, looked at Rebecca, and said, "She doesn't look that good?!" as if he didn't believe that Cathrine had said the right thing.  
  
"Are you okay?" Charlie said as he knelt down to get a better look at her.  
  
"It is just a headache. That's all it is," Rebecca said trying to calm everyone down.  
  
"I think you should go to the infirmary and see Madame Pomfrey," said Charlie.  
  
"No, I don't need to see anyone. I had these headaches before and magic can't do anything for them. In fact, I have medicine up stairs in my trunk that will take care of it."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Yeah I'll go get it right now."  
  
Rebecca got up and walked up to her room and got her medicine. She walked back down stairs to get a glass of water and then take a pill. Everyone was sort of hanging around her, which made her feel little nervous about what she was doing. As she went to put the cap back on the medicine bottle, she tipped it over and the pills fell on to the table she was at. She start to pick the pills up and putting them back into the bottle. Charlie came over to start to help her and the rest of the group pitched in to make sure that all the pills were found.  
  
Once all the pills were back in the bottle, Rebecca put the cap back on, said, "Thanks everyone," and headed up stairs to put it away. When she got up stairs, she put the bottle on her night stand. Rebecca was going to go back down stairs, but her head really hurt and she passed out on to her bed.  
  
Rebecca woke up the next morning to find the room was empty. She checked her watch and got up to get dressed. Then, she headed down stairs to get breakfast. She sat down at the almost empty Gryffindor table and ate.  
  
It was about half an hour before the quidditch match when Rebecca got up from the table to head to the stands. As Rebecca approached the door she noticed that a lot of people were milling around in the hall.  
  
She walked through the crowd and saw Ryan with Cassie, Russel, Kirsta, Sam, Hans, Dan, and some other Slytherin students. Ryan started towards her and the rest of his group followed.  
  
However, Rebecca didn't notice Ryan coming towards her, because someone shouted her name. She turned around to see who it was.  
  
It was Sara and she was making a beeline to Rebecca. James and Jacquelyn were walking over as well. Lauren was close behind the older students too.  
  
"Hey, what happened to you last night?" asked Sara when she finally made it to Rebecca. "You disappeared last night and we all were worried about you." James added, "Yeah, Charlie was really concerned. I thought that he was going to go up the stairs and break down the door. Never seen him like that before." He was trying to hold a straight face but could not help but smile as he remembered Charlie's actions.  
  
"Yeah all of us girls had to go up and check on you. In fact I think it took Lauren, Carolyn, and Aisha going up together and coming back with the same report before he was satisfied," laughed Jacquelyn. "He started to imply that Colin and Cathrine set up some prank on you. They kept saying that they wouldn't have done anything to you because you helped them pull a prank, something about you distracting some body as they were about to get caught. . Now, come on girl, tells us what happened to cause all that drama last night."  
  
Rebecca's jaw dropped as she heard what the others were saying. "Oh guys," she started. "I am so sorry I went up stairs to up the medicine away and the next thing I knew it was morning. I must have passed out or something."  
  
"What?!" the girls gasped.  
  
James jumped in and said, "As much as I would love to hear all of this right here, I have to start you all moving towards the stands or else we are not going to get good seats for the game." And with that, the group turned towards the door.  
  
"Rebecca, are you okay?" Lauren asked truly worried. Rebecca felt that the whole group was looking at her for the answer.  
  
"Guys, I am fine. My head doesn't hurt any more, so life is good. Okay?" Rebecca said as she stopped and turned around to look around at their faces. As Rebecca looked, she was a little surprised that Ryan was standing close by.  
  
"But you passed out," Sara stated walking up to her and taking her by the arm to lead her towards the field.  
  
"Yeah, but at least the bed caught me," Rebecca said as the whole group walked out the door past Russel.  
  
"So the bed caught you?" asked James with a smirk on his face. He took Rebecca by her left arm as they all walked.  
  
"Yeah the bed caught me, do you have a problem with that?" laughed Rebecca. "Um, are you guys trying to keep me from falling?" Rebecca looked at how Sara and James had her arms.  
  
"Well you know since your bed isn't here to catch you, we better keep an eye and a hand on you," said Jacquelyn as she linked arms with James as they all started to laugh.  
  
Lauren ran ahead of the group to scout out seats and the fifth years continued their way unaware that Ryan and his Slytherin group were close enough to hear everything that they were saying.  
  
They got to the stands and found Lauren. "Hey kid, these are awesome seats!" James said as he surveyed the view from the spot Lauren picked.  
  
"Yeah, Lauren, these are great seats," Jacquelyn said as she sat down next to James."  
  
"Thanks," Lauren said as her cheeks went pink. "Can I ask you guys something?"  
  
"Sure, anything," Rebecca said getting settled in her seat next to James.  
  
"Well as you all know I am from a Muggle family and most of my friends here aren't," started Lauren looking at all of them.  
  
"Oh, I think I know where this is going," Jacquelyn said.  
  
"I think we all know where this is going," Sara said as she and Rebecca scooted down to make room for Lauren next to James.  
  
"Come on kid, you found the spot so I will explain to you the rules of quidditch. I'll even take any questions during the game," James told Lauren as she took her seat.  
  
Lauren was grinning from ear to ear as James went into his explanation of quidditch. Rebecca looked around the field and chit-chatted with Sara.  
  
Aisha, Carolyn, Percy, Oliver, and some other first years and second years came up. They sat in front of Rebecca talking excitedly about the game and joined into James and Lauren's conversation.  
  
The game was about to begin when Rebecca and the rest of the fifth years heard a boy say, "Look how stupid the little Mudblood is. She doesn't even know what quidditch is."  
  
At the word Mudblood, Rebecca, James, Jacquelyn, and Sara stood up and turned around to see who said it. They saw a group of Slytherin behind them. Unfortunately they didn't turn around fast enough to see who said it, so they just stood there staring at the Slytherin group and the Slytherin group staring back. Rebecca scanned the group and her jaw dropped when she set her eyes on Ryan.  
  
"Ryan Malfoy, you didn't dare say that vile word did you?" she shouted at him. Ryan looked at her shocked that she could even think that.  
  
He was about to say something to protest her accusation, when Russel started to speak. "It wasn't Ryan. It was Harvey," he said pointing to towards the boy that wouldn't give the map back. The boy turned towards Russel and gave him a dirty look. "And if he is smart he will apologize for it and not say it again," Russel said staring Harvey down.  
  
After about a minute, the boy broke down and turned towards Lauren.  
  
Looking at his shoes he managed to say, "I'm sorry I called you a mudblood."  
  
Lauren just stood there. She didn't know what to say, because she didn't know what the word meant. Lauren looked at Rebecca for some guidance.  
  
Unfortunately Rebecca didn't know what to do either. She didn't know whether Harvey was being sincere or whether he was just to get out of trouble with Russel.  
  
Lauren turned back towards Harvey looked at him and said, "Its okay, but only if you never use that term again." With that she turned around and sat down. Harvey had a stunned look on his face as the rest of the Gryffindor students turned around and took their seats.  
  
James leaned over and whispered to Lauren, "Good Job, you did the right thing."  
  
Rebecca leaned over too and said, "You should be proud of yourself for not sinking to his level."  
  
"Yeah, but I don't know what the word meant so how could I be offended by it?" whispered Lauren soberly staring at the field.  
  
Sara leaned in and said, "We know. But you handled the situation right and you have to remember that."  
  
"Yeah," added Jacquelyn, "and we're proud of you, even if you don't think you have anything to be proud of."  
  
"Now, come on girl. Where's that smile, we all love?" said Sara giving Lauren a big smile. The first and second years joined in on cheering Lauren up. Lauren smiled at them.  
  
They all sat huddled up in the stands whispering and laughing until the Colin's voice announcing the beginning of the match. James went back into teaching mode. "Okay now, Charlie is the seeker. The chasers are Greg, Anna, and Cathrine. Angel and Heath are the beaters. Gryffindor's keeper is Aaron who is captain of the team. ."  
  
As he told Lauren who played what position and then what each position did, Rebecca silently paid attention too. She wasn't about to admitted that even though she was from a wizard family she didn't feel like she understood that much about the game.  
  
As the game wore on, Gryffindor had pulled ahead of Hufflepuff, and Lauren was getting some of the rules of the game down. Rebecca understood more of the game so she could pay more attention to the field than what James was saying. She watched as Dark sending bludgers towards the Hufflepuffs at the right angle that they were distracted while Gryffindor stole the quaff.  
  
After Cathrine scored again for Gryffindor, Hufflepuff had the quaffle and tried to score, but Greg stole it and scored.  
  
"Yeah! Away to go to Greg! That's my guy! OH! YEAH!!" screamed Sara as the rest of the Gryffindor cheered.  
  
'Charlie was right she is there biggest cheerleader. I bet they could hear that out on the field as clear as a bell. I wonder if anyone could hear Colin announce Greg's score," Rebecca thought to herself looking up to see Charlie.  
  
Just then he began speeding down towards the field. "Charlie sees the snitch," she said poking Sara to get her attention.  
  
Charlie swooped and swerved with such speed following the golden snitch everywhere it went. The Hufflepuff seeker was close behind, but Charlie then went into a dive.  
  
Everyone watched Charlie as he pulled up out of the dive with something in his fist. He landed and showed that he indeed had the snitch.  
  
Everyone broke into a loud roar as Colin announced "GRYFFINDOR WON!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
After celebrating at the stadium, the students disbursed and headed back to the castle. Rebecca and Lauren headed back together talking about the game with the other first years that sat by them. James and the other girls waited for Colin and headed back leaving Charlie, Greg, and Cathrine to walk back to the common room with the rest of the team.  
  
When the team made it back to the common room, everyone cheered. Cathrine bowed and everyone laughed hard. The students finally settled down and spent the rest of the day relaxing.  
  
Rebecca sat down by the fire and started working on some homework for the coming week. Charlie was walking over to his friends when he leaned over and whispered into Rebecca's ear, "Glad to see you woke up." Rebecca smiled at him and continued her work.  
  
As she breezed through it with her prep work at hand, James, Colin, A.J., Greg and Charlie sat around talking about the game. Sara, Jacquelyn, and Cathrine sat with the guys until they decided that they were tired of hearing about the game and moved to the fire with their homework with Rebecca.  
  
The girls all worked on their homework together and eventually the guys started theirs.  
  
Even with all of her prep work, it took Rebecca until late Sunday afternoon to finish up everything that was due the next day. She was relieved to find the end of her to do list and started stacking up all of her books to take them up stairs and sort them.  
  
Up stairs on her bed, Rebecca made a pile of text books and another pile of library books. While she was putting her text books away, Lauren came in the room.  
  
"Hey, what's up?" Rebecca asked her.  
  
"I was wondering if you could help me with some potions homework?" asked Lauren.  
  
"Sure, I am done with mine."  
  
"Thanks!"  
  
"No problem." Rebecca followed Lauren downstairs and started on Lauren's potion homework.  
  
Eventually, Rebecca was helping most of the first years with positions and Aisha and some other second years came up to ask for help as well. It wasn't until late that night when Rebecca finally made it back up stair to clean off the library books from her bed. When she looked at the books, she found a letter on top of it.  
  
Rebecca,  
  
Hey Girl! How is everything going? Everyone loved you last letter. We all sit around and read them the night that we get them. It is becoming a weekly event. I have to say that I am very curious about Charlie. He always seems to show up in your letters.  
  
Anyways, I think you would like to know that Scott finally asked Gwen out. (I can hear you saying about time, already. We all were excited when we found out, too.) Colleen seems to be hanging out more and more with Kevin. (You remember him. He was the prefect in our house. I think you and him use to compete on who knew more in defense class.) I have a new crush! He is a new student from Durmstang. His name is Ty. I could go on forever about how great he is and how cute he is, but for the sake of time lets just say he is tall dark and handsome and incredibly polite. If you were here, even you would be head over heals for him, but enough of my crush. Well I got to go to class now. Write when you can.  
  
Later,  
  
Stacy  
  
Rebecca smiled as she folded the letter up and stuck it with the other ones she had received. She then turned towards her books on her bed to distract herself from writing a long letter right then and there.  
  
As she took the books off, she realized that she missed the book on Magical beasts. Rebecca looked around the room and decided that she must have left it down stairs.  
  
She walked down the stairs into an almost empty common room. Charlie, who was one of the few students there, looked up when Rebecca walked in. Rebecca looked around for the book as soon as she had in the room.  
  
After a minute or two, Charlie asked, "Are you looking for something?"  
  
Rebecca looked at him and softly said, "Yeah, I left one of the books I got from the library somewhere around here."  
  
"You mean this book," Charlie said holding up exact book Rebecca was looking for. Rebecca nodded as she walked towards Charlie. "And here I thought I some how magically made the book appear without knowing the spell."  
  
"Sorry to disappoint you, but it was my forgetfulness."  
  
"Oh, I don't think that it was forgetfulness."  
  
"Really?" Rebecca contorted her face showing she was curious on what Charlie thought it was.  
  
"Yeah, you unconsciously did it on purpose."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"You noticed that I was working really hard on my homework and that I need a reward when I got it done."  
  
Rebecca laughed and Charlie joined in. "Nice theory. . I can't believe you think it is a reward to read that book."  
  
"Well it is one of my favorite subjects. . I can't believe you were willing to help on any potion homework that wasn't your own. That would be torture to me, but you looked like you were having fun, or maybe you were faking it so the kids didn't feel bad for asking you to do something that horrid." Rebecca smiled slightly blushing, said, "It's not that bad," and softly laughed. Charlie chuckled as well and handed back the book.  
  
"Thanks. Well, I'm going to go to bed. Good night," Rebecca said as she turned towards the stairs.  
  
"Night, Becca," Charlie called after her. 


	6. Headaches

The next day Rebecca woke up a little later than she usually did. Rebecca got ready and walked down to breakfast by herself.  
  
She found the only open spot, which happened to be next to Charlie. She was starting to fill her plate when mail started to come.  
  
Rebecca didn't pay attention, because she never got mail in the morning. Stacy's letters always came at night. Today was an exception though.  
  
An owl swooped down and dropped a package right in her oatmeal. Rebecca had food fly towards her from the landing. Some hit her in right in the face.  
  
Charlie grabbed his napkin and leaned over towards her. As he helped her clean her face, he whispered, "That's one way to clean your plate."  
  
Rebecca started to laugh and finished cleaning up.  
  
"So Rebecca, who is the package from?" asked a curious Colin who was sitting right in front her.  
  
"Oh, um." Rebecca looked the address to see if she could figure out sent it.  
  
"Oh!" Rebecca excitedly shouted out. "It's from my friend at Beauxbatons!" Everyone smiled at Rebecca's reaction, because she had never shown that emotion since they had known her. Rebecca was so happy that she was grinning from ear to ear, but then she looked at her watch. "Oh look at the time. We're going to have to head to classes soon. I guess I'll open it later," she said disappointed that classes were starting so soon.  
  
Rebecca ran up stairs and put the package on her bed and headed to class.  
  
She decided it would be best to wait until after supper to open it because she didn't want to rush going through the box. All through classes Rebecca kept thinking of the package making the day seem to drag on.  
  
Finally, Rebecca had a free period where she contemplated going up to her room and opening the package, but decided she better go to the library and look up something for charms instead so that she didn't have to do it later.  
  
Rebecca walked into the library and headed to the charm section. As she looked at the books in one of the aisles, she heard a voice.  
  
She rounded the corner and saw it was Russel looking at a book that didn't look like it exactly belonged to the section and muttering to himself softly.  
  
'Must be reading to himself,' she thought as she stepped into the aisle. Rebecca said hello and continued to look at the books.  
  
"How are you doing?" asked Russel staring at her.  
  
Rebecca looked at him and noticed his gaze. She felt uncomfortable, but went ahead and answered, "I'm fine."  
  
"No more headaches then?"  
  
"No, I haven't had one since Friday. I think I was just stressed out," Rebecca timidly answered still looking for her book. "Oh here it is," she said pulling a book of the shelf and flipping through it.  
  
"Do you get headaches often?" Russel asked.  
  
"It depends. If I have lot to do or am doing something I really don't like, I am more prone to having them. Well I got to get going." Rebecca said as she turned to go.  
  
She made it to the end of the aisle and then turned around much to the surprised to Russel.  
  
"Um, I just wanted to thank you for sticking up for Lauren when the boy called her that name," Rebecca said, as she looked Russel straight in the eyes. Russel's face softened more than Rebecca had ever seen as he said, "Oh, it was nothing."  
  
"I know that it may not seem like it was important, since Lauren didn't know what it means. But I also know that boy knew she didn't and there wasn't anyway that I or anyone else with me for that matter could say that was going to convince that boy there that he should apologize to her. You got him to apologize and that was something." With her final comment turned and left.  
  
As she walked away, she looked at the book she just got off the shelf and started to feel a headache coming on. 'Great! I am already starting to stress out over charms. Why can't this be one of my strong subjects?'  
  
Rebecca finished up her homework during her free period even though she had a splitting headache. She went to dinner and still had the headache she was glad when she made it up to her dorm room to take her medicine.  
  
After she took her medicine, her attention turned to her package from Beauxbatons. Rebecca untied the box and found it full of cards and photos.  
  
After emptying the contents out on her bed, Rebecca picked up a letter from Stacy  
  
Dear Rebecca,  
  
Sorry it took me so long to get this together, but everyone wanted to send you something and it took us a while to get all the pictures that we wanted. Hope everything is going well at school. Everything is going well here. I am going to make this a short letter and let everyone else tell you what is going on.  
  
Later,  
  
Stacy  
  
Rebecca laid back on her bed and read the other letters. They were full of the news about what was going on at her old school. All of her friends wrote her a letter telling her to continue writing them because they loved her letters. Everyone ended with "We miss you!" Rebecca missed them too and felt even more painful when she saw the photo of her friends waving to her.  
  
There was also one with Stacy wearing her straight black hair down so that Rebecca could see that the length was just below Stacy's shoulder standing next to a tall, dark, and handsome boy. 'Must be Ty,' Rebecca thought as she put the picture down and picked up another one.  
  
Colleen with her straight blonde hair and Kevin with his jet black wind tousled hair stood in the photo holding hands smiling at her while they waved.  
  
Scott with his sandy colored hair and Gwen wearing her long dark brown hair in French braids were in another photo. Gwen was signing 'We miss you' in the photo as Scott switched between fake crying and waving with a big smile.  
  
Then Rebecca picked up a picture with only a boy in it. His short white blonde hair had a just out of bed hair style. As Rebecca stared at the photo, the boy pulled a sign from behind his back. It said,  
  
I know you do.  
  
He then flipped it over so the sign read,  
  
I miss you too!  
  
Rebecca weakly smiled at the boy because it was her best guy friend, Ben, and he always knew what she was thinking.  
  
That was the breaking point. Rebecca had been able to hide her feelings of longing to be there. In fact she was purposely trying not to get close to anyone in particular, because she didn't want to make close friends here, and then be told that her parents' will said that she had to leave. As she fingered through the photos and read some more letters, tears started rolling down her face.  
  
'I've been able to buried these feelings for so long. Why can't I do it now?' she thought to herself. She laid on her bed for a long time looking at everything and eventually fell asleep.  
  
Charlie and his friends confronted the next morning Rebecca at breakfast.  
  
"Hey what happened to you last night?" he asked as he took his seat and looked at her from across the table with a concerned look on her face. Rebecca looked at everyone and saw that they all had the same look in their face.  
  
"Oh I just fell asleep looking at what my friends sent me," Rebecca replied nonchalantly and continued eating.  
  
"You know you fall asleep in your clothes a lot," observed Colin with a joking tone in his voice.  
  
"Oh leave her alone, Colin," said Jacquelyn giving a look that told him she was serious. "Come on we have to go get mental ready for class." Jacquelyn got up and left with James, Sara, Greg, Colin and Cathrine right behind her.  
  
Rebecca got up shortly after them and Charlie got up on the other side. Rebecca was about out the door when Charlie started to speak.  
  
"You didn't have another headache again, did you?"  
  
Rebecca turned around and gave him a puzzled look. "What?"  
  
"I know you said you just fell asleep, but I can't help but wonder if you did it because you had a headache." Charlie had a very concerned look on his face so Rebecca wasn't overly offended that he questioned what she had said.  
  
"I had a headache earlier when I was working on my Charm homework, but it stopped before I fell asleep."  
  
"Okay I just didn't want you to be passing out on your bed all the time from headaches and no one taking you to the infirmary to get it checked out."  
  
Rebecca smiled and said, "Thanks for your concern."  
  
She turned to continue walking and about ran into Ryan and his group.  
  
"You had another headache?" Ryan questioned her.  
  
"It wasn't that bad I was in the library working on my charm homework and I must have been stressing out about it. It went away, so don't worry about it. Okay?" Rebecca gave Ryan a look that let him know that she was fine.  
  
"Okay, then I'll see you later."  
  
"Okay, bye." Rebecca continued to walk and caught a glance of Russel who looked at her surprised by something but she couldn't figure out what as they passed in the hall. Rebecca made it to transfiguration and took her seat pondering what could have been so surprising.  
  
Transfiguration class went the same as usual. McGonagall had a lot of notes for the students to take, and by then end of the period, everyone was tired of writing.  
  
While they were all packing up their stuff, McGonagall reminded them that they would be taking O.W.L.S. at the end of the year and that if they wanted to lighten their studying later on they should start studying now. Most of the students groaned, but Rebecca, who was still feeling lonely from her friend's card, saw an opportunity in this.  
  
'I don't want to get attached to anyone here and have to leave them like my friends in Beauxbatons,' she thought. 'If I start studying for O.W.L.S. now, maybe I can keep myself distracted and not get attached to anyone.'  
  
Rebecca walked up to McGonagall and asked, "Professor, I was wondering what you would suggest studying for the O.W.L.S.?"  
  
McGonagall looked at Rebecca and smiled. "Well, Ms. Carter, congratulations on taking the initiative to start getting ready for the tests. I will put together a list of general topics for you to go over and if you have any questions just come and ask."  
  
"Thank you every much, Professor," said Rebecca and she walked out of the room.  
  
Rebecca walked to the next class ecstatic that she had a plan. She was tried of having people leave her or having to leave people she cared for. No, she was going to try something new. She was going to keep to herself and not let herself get to close to anyone.  
  
McGonagall came through with the list that she promised Rebecca. With the list, Rebecca was able to through herself head first into studying every chance she got. Not much changed in many respects other than Rebecca always had a book in her hand and she didn't initiate any conversations. However, Rebecca talked to anyone who talked to her and helped anyone that asked still so she was as popular as she was before. Rebecca didn't care because her goal was not get close to anyone no completely alienate herself from the school.  
  
The studying did take its toll on Rebecca though. Her headaches were getting more prominent. At the Halloween feast, after she talked to Ryan and Russel and made her way to her seat her head started pounding. She sat down, closed her eyes, and propped her head up with her hand. Charlie sat down beside her and kept offering her food but she barely ate anything.  
  
Then one Saturday in early November after Rebecca was talking to Ryan about what she had been doing, she turned around to walk away and she felt a headache starting. She continued to walk passing Cassie and Russel who were walking over to Ryan. All of the sudden, Rebecca's head felt like it was going to explode and she felt extremely dizzy.  
  
She started to faint in the hall, but someone caught her before she hit the floor. Rebecca looked up to see it was Charlie who had her.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked as she steadied herself.  
  
"Yeah, I just got a little dizzy. I must have turned around to fast. Thanks," replied Rebecca and she walked into the great hall for breakfast.  
  
Rebecca sat down in a seat surrounded by first years. Charlie walked in behind her and looked to find a seat near her. Lauren finally left with Aisha and Carolyn and Charlie grabbed her seat.  
  
"Are you going to the quidditch game today?" he asked. Rebecca looked at him she had forgotten about Slytherin and Ravenclaw quidditch match.  
  
"Um. Yeah I guess so," Rebecca stammered out.  
  
"Can I go with you?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I'd like to go to the game with you."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well I don't want to be a fifth wheel with my friends. Don't get me wrong, I like being around them but there is times when I get left out because I am not dating anyone and no one else is single. Plus I want to keep an eye on you since you also most passed out in the hall." Charlie muttered his last sentence, but Rebecca knew what he said.  
  
"Um. okay," she said and they took off to go to the field.  
  
Rebecca felt better at the match. She sat back and enjoyed the game surrounded by the Gryffindor team.  
  
The game started with Colin was announcing of course. ". and Slytherin's Seeker is Russel Flint," Colin finished telling the team members.  
  
"Flint?" repeated Rebecca. Charlie looked at her with a puzzled expression. "I never knew his last name," Rebecca timidly explained. Charlie shook his head and turned his attention to the field.  
  
The game was fast and furious. Colin got yelled at by McGonagall when he made a bad remark about Slytherin's game strategy which sent everyone in the stands that weren't in the Slytherin house in to a giggle fit. Rebecca laughed right along with everyone else and really enjoyed the intensity of the game.  
  
Ravenclaw was winning but not by much when Ryan scored the tying points. After that Russel started to fly around the field at a furious pace. The Ravenclaw seeker was in close pursuit, but a bludger sailed right at in the path so the seeker maneuver around it.  
  
"Now that is timing," A.J. commented on the Slytherin beater's ablity to send the bludger right in front of some on to slow them down, knowing full well that the beater was meaning to hit the other player with it instead.  
  
That slow-down costed Ravenclaw the match, because a few seconds later Russel caught the snitch and ended the match. Slytherin celebrated and everyone headed back to the castle.  
  
As the rest of the Gryffindor students went to the common room to relax, Rebecca went up to get her books and head to the library.  
  
"Hey where are you going?" James asked when he saw her walk down the dorm room steps with her arms full. Charlie, Colin, Cathrine, Greg, Sara, and Jacquelyn who were sitting around the fire with James turned around to see who he was talking to.  
  
"Oh, I am just going to the library to get some work done." Rebecca replied as she walked across the room towards the portrait. She really wanted some time alone, but it wasn't to be.  
  
"That's a good idea. I should do that too. I'll see you in the library," Sara called after Rebecca as she got up and headed to get her own books.  
  
"We all should do that," Greg said as he went to get his books. With that the whole group gathered up their books and headed to the library.  
  
Rebecca passed Russel on her way to the library.  
  
"Hey, what did you think of the game?" he asked with a smile as they neared each other.  
  
"It was a good match. Congratulations on the win," Rebecca said stopping herself from continuing to walk on because Russel stopped in his tracks and it would have been rude of her not to also. "Where are you headed?"  
  
"Oh, I am just going the library to study."  
  
"Really? ..." Russel stopped talking and glared down the hall.  
  
Rebecca turned around to see what he was looking at and gave out a quiet sigh. It turned out it was just Charlie and the others.  
  
"Hey Rebecca, see you in the library," Charlie said as he passed. Charlie looked over at Russel and gave him a questioning look as he passed.  
  
Rebecca smiled slightly as she nodded at Charlie and then looked back at Russel to say, "Well I got to get going."  
  
"Yeah, I'll probably see you later. I was planning to go to the library today, too. Bye."  
  
Rebecca went into the library set her books with the others since it was the only available spot in the library and she headed off to find a book on potions.  
  
It took her a little while, but she found the book and started to walk out of the section. Russel was standing with a book at the end of the aisle Rebecca was walking up and muttering to himself. Rebecca was absorbed in the book she found and didn't notice him. In fact she almost bumped into him when she passed.  
  
"Sorry," Rebecca said glancing up from the book and continuing her way back to the table.  
  
She took a few more steps and felt a headache starting. Rebecca was almost to the table when her vision went fuzzy. The next thing she knew she was falling, but she didn't hit anything.  
  
Charlie had caught her for the second time that day. He helped her to a chair and knelt next to her to check her out. Everyone else got up to look at Rebecca in horror. Her color in her face had drained so that she was sheet white.  
  
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked.  
  
"Um. I think that I need to get back to the room," Rebecca said softly.  
  
Charlie looked at the group and everyone went into action. Charlie picked Rebecca up while everyone else gathered up all the things they brought.  
  
They were about to walk out when Russel appeared and asked, "Is everything okay? Rebecca, what happened?"  
  
"Oh, she isn't feeling well. We're going to take her back to room," responded Cathrine for Rebecca.  
  
The whole group moved out of the library and by the time they got through the portrait Rebecca was feeling better. Charlie finally let her down in a chair and knelt beside her look at her in the face.  
  
"Are you sure you feel okay?" he asked concerned that he should have taken her to the infirmary instead of back to the common room.  
  
"Yeah, I just need to sit here for a while," Rebecca softly said.  
  
They studied in the common room for the rest of the day. No one let Rebecca get up until suppertime.  
  
After the incident in the library, Rebecca decided to start to carry her medicine around with her until these headaches get under control. Rebecca had success the next couple of weeks with taking medicine whenever she felt a headache coming on. She made it through the rest of November without having a headache that would make her pass out.  
  
The first week of December was different matter. Rebecca had a headache all the time. She passed out in potions one day, then in lunch the next day, and in the hall the day after that while walking past Ryan and Russel.  
  
Charlie caught her every time. Rebecca didn't even know that Charlie was around but he always right there when she was about to collapse.  
  
On Thursday of that week, Rebecca passed out in the hall again. Charlie had came out of the blue and caught her once again. Ryan, who always had his back to Rebecca the other times she passed out, saw it happen this time and came up to Rebecca.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked. Charlie looked at Rebecca to see how she was going to answer Ryan.  
  
"I passed out from a headache." (After a quick glance at Charlie, who had a 'go on and tell him' expression on his face) ". um, I've, um, been doing it all week," Rebecca admitted. Ryan's jaw dropped and he stared at her. "I always feel better after, though, but I can't figure out why I keep getting the headaches when I have been getting them lately."  
  
"Maybe you should go to Madame Pompfrey," Ryan stated. Charlie gave Rebecca a look to tell her 'see I am not the only one that thinks it.'  
  
"Guys, I have been to numerous wizard doctors and they can't do anything for my headaches. I have had better luck when I use muggle medicine, but sometimes that doesn't work either. There really is nothing that can be done, okay?"  
  
"Okay, I guess," Ryan said with a disapproving look, but he knew there was no arguing with her about it, at least not right now.  
  
Rebecca didn't pass out again until the next day. She woke up feeling great and forgot to even take medicine with her to class, but felt that she better go get it when she had a chance. Rebecca had to rush up to her medicine from her nightstand before lunch.  
  
As she rushed down to the great hall, A.J. walked past her and said, "With that speed, you could give Charlie a run for his money if you decided to try out for seeker." Rebecca smiled at him and kept going, because she was really hungry.  
  
She passed Ryan and his group at the top of the stairs and then all of the sudden she got this horrible headache. Rebecca gasped and fell head over heals down the stairs. She tumbled down to the bottom of the steps.  
  
As she drifted in and out of consciousness, Rebecca heard a lot of commotion around her. The Slytherin group had raced down the stairs, Cassie was hysterical and Ryan and the rest of the group were busy trying to get her calmed down so that she didn't get in the way of Rebecca getting help.  
  
Charlie had rushed over about as soon as Rebecca hit the last step. He knelt down and tried to wake her up, but no success. Charlie ended up scooping her up in his arms and taking her to the infirmary.  
  
Rebecca woke up in the infirmary late Friday night. She looked over to see Charlie was sitting by her bed.  
  
"Hello," she said quietly and gave him a sweet smile.  
  
"Hello, you gave us quite a scare," he said as he tucked a loose strand of Rebecca's hair behind her ear and giving her a sweet smile.  
  
"Why am I here?" she asked and Charlie started to tell her what happened. As he talked, Rebecca tried to prop herself up on her arm to see if anyone else was there, but her whole body ached and she quickly dropped back into the bed. "Cassie went hysterical when you didn't get up. Ryan tried to calm her down, but it took Russel and him taking her by the arms and dragging her off. Russel looked upset, too," Charlie continued with the story.  
  
"I bet it took them a while to get Cassie settled down," Rebecca said and they both chuckled, because they knew that Cassie was high maintenance.  
  
Madame Pompfrey came in and ushered Charlie out so that Rebecca can rest.  
  
Rebecca looked over as Charlie left to see that her bed side table was full of cards. There was one covered with smiley faces. She picked it up and saw that it was from Cathrine. Greg, Sara, James, Jacquelyn, and Colin had done individual card for her also. Charlie left a card for her too. There was also a get well card from the rest of the quidditch team. Aisha, Lauren, and Carolyn got together and made her one too.  
  
There were cards from Gryffindor students from each year telling her to feel better soon. Even the students from Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff sent a card from each house. Rebecca was surprised when she saw the Slytherin get well card was signed by more than just Ryan, Russel, Cassie, and Kirsta. She fell back to sleep looking at her cards happy that she was actually cared about in this school.  
  
The next day Rebecca was release from Madame Pompfrey's care shortly before lunch. She got more medicine because she was sore and would be for a while.  
  
As Rebecca was about to walk out, Madame Pompfrey said, "It's amazing that you didn't break anything with that fall. If it wasn't for the fact that you have a history of these headaches, I would have said someone was casting a spell on you."  
  
Rebecca gingerly walked out of the infirmary and headed towards the Gryffindor tower with what Madame Pompfrey's theory running through her mind. Ryan came up to her to see how she was doing. Rebecca ended up telling him the theory about her. Ryan looked shocked and was about to say something when Cassie came up. Cassie inquired on how Rebecca was and then dragged Ryan to lunch.  
  
Rebecca continued on her way passing Bill who gave her a smile to let her know he was glad to see her up and moving.  
  
A.J. saw her in the halls and said, "Glad to see your up and moving. If you need anything, let me know." Rebecca smiled and continued to walk afraid to stop now, because the pain she was feeling might be worst when she tried to start walking again.  
  
She was almost to the stairs to get to the tower when she saw Charlie and Greg were leaning up against the wall talking in the hall. Charlie saw her first and he smiled at her. Rebecca smiled back.  
  
"Hey you're up and going," he said and Greg looked over and gave her a smile.  
  
"I'll be right behind you just in case," Charlie said with a wink. Rebecca appreciated what he said and flashed a grateful smile at him.  
  
Charlie followed her up to the common room and watched Rebecca go up the stairs to her room. She had made it up to there with a lot of pain. Rebecca couldn't believe how sore she was, but when reflecting on the fact that she fell down a flight of stairs she felt lucky she hadn't broke anything.  
  
For the rest of the weekend Rebecca didn't do too much. She went down to the Great Hall for meals but didn't go any where else. Rebecca worked on her homework but couldn't sit down for any length of time so she had to do it in spurts.  
  
Eventually Monday came and classes were going to start up again. Rebecca wasn't looking forward to them at all. She was still sore and had trouble sleeping because she couldn't lie in one position for a long time. This meant that she was tired all the time. The only good thing that happened in Rebecca's eyes was that she hadn't had a headache since Friday. She was able to walk to her classes by herself confident that she wasn't going to pass out again; because of the medication she had to help control the soreness she was experiencing would take care of any headaches she could be having. After lunch on Monday, Rebecca gathered up her book on the table to start for class.  
  
She was just out of the Great Hall, when Charlie walked and took her bag from her and said, "I'll see you in class." Charlie walked off and joined with his friends as they headed to class. Rebecca was stunned for a moment and then had this sense of relief. Her books felt so heavy to her right now and it was nice not to have to carry them around right then.  
  
When Rebecca made it to class, she found her books at her seat. She looked over at Charlie, who was busy talking to James. Charlie did glance over to see Rebecca looking at him. They exchanged smile and Rebecca whispered, "Thank you."  
  
Rebecca fidgeted all through class. Class was finally over and everyone packed up to leave. Rebecca was just glad that she could get off her chair. It took her a while to pack up so she was the last student to leave. She gingerly walked out and once again Charlie walked up, took her bag, and told her that he would see her in class again.  
  
'I must look like I am total pain, if Charlie is taking my books to class for me without me saying anything. . It is really sweet of him,' Rebecca thought to herself as she walked to the next class. Charlie continued to take her books from Rebecca and by Wednesday Rebecca was no longer surprised when he did so. Charlie didn't even say anything anymore he would just take her bag and walk away.  
  
On Thursday, Rebecca was talking to Ryan when Charlie came up, took Rebecca's books out of her hands, and walked away. Ryan was shocked at what he saw. Charlie didn't ask Rebecca and she didn't even stop talking to Ryan to see what Charlie was doing. Ryan couldn't help but question Rebecca on this.  
  
"What was that about?" he asked. Rebecca looked at him wondering what he was talking about.  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Weasley just walked up and took your books from you and you didn't bat and eye about it. In fact he didn't even say anything to you at all," Ryan said getting a little hot under his collar.  
  
"Oh," Rebecca said as she looked around to see if she could see Charlie. "He has been taking my books to class for me since my accident."  
  
"Why? Did you ask him to?" Ryan's voice got more intense with every word.  
  
"No," Rebecca said wondering what Ryan was going to accuse her of. Before Ryan could ask another question, Cassie came waltzing up to him and Rebecca.  
  
"You are so lucky, Rebecca. Charlie is very attentive to you," gushed Cassie. She then turned to Ryan and said, "Don't you think that Charlie and your cousin would make a good couple?" Cassie smiled at him and Ryan put on a fake smile as Rebecca slightly blushed at the comment. Cassie may not have realized Ryan didn't like what she said, but Rebecca knew Ryan was keeping his true feelings hidden.  
  
"Well I have to get going. I'll see you later," Rebecca said with a smile and left them in the hall.  
  
Ryan fumed for a while about the situation. He was mad enough that he asked his friends what they had seen and to observe a little how Charlie and Rebecca interacted with each other.  
  
At dinner Friday, the observations came back bring Ryan to the conclusion that there was really nothing going on between Rebecca and Charlie. They were not really around each other a lot and barely talked at lunch when they were around each other the most.  
  
"What about in the Gryffindor tower?" asked Ryan second guessing his first conclusion.  
  
"Kirsta said that A.J. said that they aren't around each other that much when he is in the common room. He's with his friends and she is helping some younger students usually. Besides, dude, your cousin wouldn't go for a guy like that?" Russel piped in, trying to calm Ryan down.  
  
"Yeah, I guess, but."  
  
"But what, Weasely was just being nice to her. She isn't falling for him. She is around him enough to know he is a loser."  
  
"You really don't like him on or off the field do you, Russel?"  
  
"What can I say? I can see through what everyone else can't."  
  
"Anyways, I guess you're right. If they were dating we would see them around each other all the time even," Ryan finished and stared over to the Gryffindor table to see who Rebecca was talking to. When he saw it was A.J. that Rebecca was talking to, he turned his mind else were and forgot about the Rebecca and Charlie situation.  
  
Everyone finished up eating and the students went back to their respective common rooms. Rebecca was tired and tried to get to bed early, but couldn't get comfortable. She grabbed her medicine bottle and went down stairs to the common room to get a glass. There weren't too many students in the room so Rebecca decided sit down on the couch to sit for a while.  
  
Bill was close by sitting in a chair flipping through some books that did not look like regular text books. Rebecca hadn't had much interaction with him since that day at Diagon Alley, but they had talked a couple of times when some first years had asked for help for potions and Bill walked them over to Rebecca so he could go on rounds.  
  
"Hey, how are you feeling?" he said with a friendly smile.  
  
Rebecca smiled back and responded with, "I'm not as sore as I was at first, but I am really tired now from being sore before that and not being able to rest. How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine. Why don't you head up to bed, if you're tired? I know that it is early but it might be good for you to get some extra sleep." Bill gave her the same concerned look that Charlie had been giving her while she was having all those headaches.  
  
"It's a good idea, but I was just up stairs and I couldn't get comfortable. In fact, I came down here to take my medicine and sit awhile so that I'll feel comfortable when I do go up to bed."  
  
"Sounds like you have a plan. Here do you want to look at this while you are sitting down here?" Bill handed her a book on Defense against the Dark Arts written by the same wizard who wrote the other defense book he had gotten off the shelf for her at the end of August.  
  
"Thanks," Rebecca said as she started flipping through the book.  
  
Rebecca became fixated on the book. As she read, Rebecca put her feet up on the couch and laid her head on the arm rest. This was a really comfortable position for Rebecca. In fact, it was about as comfortable as she had been the whole week. Rebecca looked at the book for a while longer, but ended up falling asleep on the couch.  
  
Bill was completely absorbed in to his book and didn't realize Rebecca was sleeping until Charlie came walking up until to talk to him.  
  
"Hey Bill, What do you think of this?" he asked handing Bill a book. Charlie glanced over at the couch. He did a double take when he realized Rebecca was sleeping on the couch. He pointed at her and asked Bill, "How long has she been like that?"  
  
Bill looked over at her and said, "Um, I don't know. She sat down there about three hours ago and who know when she drifted off to sleep."  
  
"Well I guess we better wake her up and send her up to bed." Charlie knelt down next to Rebecca and shook her shoulder softly. "Rebecca. Hey, Becca," he softly said. Rebecca blinked and saw Charlie next to her.  
  
"Hey," whispered Rebecca.  
  
"I think it is time for you to get in your own bed." Rebecca nodded and started to get up. Charlie took her hand and they both stood up together.  
  
Rebecca muttered, "Night," as she walked away.  
  
"Night Becca," Charlie said.  
  
"Good night, Rebecca," added Bill as he looked at Charlie strangely.  
  
When Rebecca hit the stair, Charlie turned around to talk to his brother about what he came to talk about in the first place, but Bill had something else he wanted to talk about. "What was that about?" Bill asked giving Charlie a menacing smile.  
  
Charlie sat down on the couch and looked at Bill confused. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"Oh come on. 'Hey Becca,' and 'Night Becca.' As far as I know no one else calls her by that name. What is going on with you and her?"  
  
"Nothing is going on with us. I am trying to be her friend that's all. You know I shorten names without even thinking. I call Ginny, Gin. Cathrine, Cat. Angel, A.J. and some time I just call him A or J. I would call Jacquelyn, Jackie if I didn't think that she would stop helping me with my homework if I did."  
  
Charlie was acting nervous like he was hiding something by naming off all the shortened names, so Bill asked, "So nothing is going on?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You just want to be her friend?"  
  
"Yes. Isn't that what I just said?"  
  
"Charlie, Charlie, Charlie," Bill laughed.  
  
"What?"  
  
"Nothing you'll have to figure it out yourself."  
  
"Whatever," Charlie said exasperated. Can you look at that book in your lap?"  
  
Bill was still smiling as he looked at the book and started to help Charlie.  
  
Rebecca heard bits and pieces of their conversation as she made her way up the stairs, but was too tired to make any sense of what they were saying. When she made it to her bed, she climbed in and fell right back to sleep. 


	7. Hogsmeade

Rebecca woke to an empty dorm room that Saturday. When she first opened her eyes she thought she was missing a quidditch match, but then she remembered it was December and there were no matches during the month. She looked outside to see that the grounds were covered with a blanket of snow.  
  
'There's no way that there would very be a match with all that snow,' she thought as she turned to go and get dressed. After she was done, Rebecca wanted to take her medicine to help combat the pain she felt. The soreness was lessening each day, but Madame Pompfrey told her to take all the medicine even if she thought she could go without it.  
  
Rebecca went to get the bottle, but it wasn't in the room. She remembered she had taken it to the common room and so she headed down the stairs to find it.  
  
There weren't that many students in the common room. In fact it was mostly first and second years, like Lauren and Aisha, down there. Charlie was sitting by the fire reading, but he was the only older student that Rebecca saw.  
  
Rebecca started to look for the medicine, but it wasn't on any of the tables. She began to look under the tables and chairs in case it had gotten knocked on to the floor from where ever she had left it.  
  
Charlie looked up from his book and saw her. "Hey what are you doing?" he asked.  
  
"I'm looking for my medicine. I brought it down here last night, set it down some place, and forgot to take it back up with me. Now I can't find it," Rebecca said continuing her search.  
  
"Would you like some help?"  
  
"Um, yeah, that would be nice." Rebecca looked up and smiled at him.  
  
They both started to look. In a matter of moments Charlie announced, "I found it."  
  
"Thank you," Rebecca said as she walked over to Charlie.  
  
Rebecca went back up to her room to take her medicine, then put it away, and came back to sit down with Charlie. After looking around the common room, Rebecca turned to Charlie and asked, "So, where is everyone, today?"  
  
"Oh, they went to Hogsmeade," Charlie responded as he flipped through his book.  
  
Normal Rebecca would have taken the answer and not ask anything else so she won't disturb what the person was doing. However, this time she was so shocked that she found herself asking, "You didn't go with them?"  
  
Charlie closed his book, looked directly at her, and said, "Well, they were going to by each other Christmas gift. You know boyfriend and girlfriend stuff. I was going to be a fifth wheel in the group, so I decided to stay here. Bill actually asked if I wanted to go with him, but he seemed to have something up his sleeve when he asked so I declined," Charlie paused for a moment and just looked Rebecca. "You've never been, have you?"  
  
"No," Rebecca said and then thought for a moment "Do you want to go with me?"  
  
Rebecca was surprised herself with the question she posed to Charlie, but his response was an immediate "Yeah, let's go."  
  
They both grabbed their cloaks and scarves and headed out of the castle talking about whatever came to there minds.  
  
They made it to the front entrance of the Hogwarts and Charlie suddenly stopped.  
  
"What's the matter?" Rebecca asked looking at the door.  
  
"Oh nothing, I was just thinking. Why don't you tell me where we are going?"  
  
"Do you want to get lost?"  
  
"Well if it means that we get to talk a lot then Yes, I want to get lost." They both laugh alittle.  
  
"How about you lead and we make an agreement that as we answer any questions that the other one asks?"  
  
"Sounds good to me," Charlie said leading the way, "I'll start. Do you remember when we first met?"  
  
"Yeah, you and your family helped me on to Platform 9 ¾."  
  
"No when we actually got to talk to one another."  
  
"Yeah, we were in the carriage on our way to the castle."  
  
"Well I asked you a question and you never answered me."  
  
"Really?" Rebecca stopped dead in her tracks. "What was it?"  
  
"I asked you why you transferred to Hogwarts, but you were too infatuated by the sights that you didn't hear me."  
  
"Oh I'm sorry. I guess you want me to answer it now," Rebecca said giving Charlie a mischievous smile.  
  
Charlie threw a snowball at Rebecca and shouted "YES!" in a playful voice.  
  
Rebecca threw one back as they started a full fledged snowball fight.  
  
After a few minutes of laughing and throwing snowballs, Rebecca realized that she couldn't win the 'fight'. So before Charlie could get another snowball off, she ducked behind a large tree. Charlie started to walk around the tree but Rebecca started walking the other way so he couldn't see her. The snow was crisp so there was a crackle sound when someone up their foot down in the snow, so Rebecca could hear which way Charlie was going and go the other way.  
  
After a few times around the tree, the snow was so beaten down that there was no sound from the Charlie's step anymore. It was time to start guessing which way to go. Rebecca tried to go one way, but ran into Charlie. He grabbed her arm and held a snowball over her head.  
  
"Truce," shouted Rebecca through her laughter.  
  
"Tell me the answer to my question," Charlie laughed.  
  
"Get rid of the snowball first," Rebecca cried through her laughter. Charlie dropped the snowball and they laughed for a while.  
  
When they calmed down they continued on their journey to Hogsmeade and Rebecca answered the question. "My parents' will has different stipulations in it for my up bringing. One was that I went to different schools and that is why I transferred," Rebecca said soberly.  
  
"What?" Charlie stopped and looked at her with a little concern at how she spoke those words.  
  
"I get instructions on what I am going to do through the will." Charlie didn't say anything so Rebecca continued. "I know it sounds funny, but I don't really remember it being any other way. I get a letter with the stipulation that my parents set up and I follow the instructions. After everything I do, I go to the next step. Wadsworth used to tell me that it was to make me a well rounded person that is worthy of my destiny. Whatever that means? Anyways, I've done a lot of different things and learned a lot of different things over the years. I usually get a freedom from it, kind of like I take a test before I can do something without having to ask. It has been pretty cool, because it is kind of like my parents are guiding me through life even though they aren't right here with me." Rebecca smiled at the last thing she said.  
  
Charlie felt more comfortable with Rebecca smiling and said, "I'm sorry about your parents and your guardian." He paused for a moment as Rebecca smiled at him and then he playfully added, "I think that my mother should take some points. A note telling me exactly what she wants me to do is better than getting told a million times. I think she thinks that I can't remember she told me anything. It might even work for my dad too. He."  
  
"What's your family like?" Rebecca asked all of the sudden when he mentioned his parents. She had been dying to know about them since she had seen them on the street at Diagon Alley.  
  
Charlie started tell her of his family and they started walking again. They were laughing as he told stories of his siblings. Rebecca had all the names and ages of Charlie's family down in a very short time.  
  
They were almost to Hogsmeade when Rebecca slipped on some ice. Charlie caught her before she hit the ground and helped her stand up right. Rebecca was laughing when Charlie took her by the hand and said, "I better keep a hold of you so you don't hurt yourself."  
  
They continued walking hand in hand and talking as they headed into the village. "Let's go into the Three Broomstick and get warmed up, before we go explore the town. Sound good?" Charlie said looking at Rebecca as the past the first building of the village.  
  
"That sounds great. Let's go," Rebecca excitedly said.  
  
Rebecca and Charlie walked into the Three Broomsticks. It was crowded with students. After a moment, Charlie spotted a table for two and they headed over to it.  
  
Ryan was with his group of friends were in the tavern and saw Rebecca walk in with Charlie. Russel saw them too and walked with Ryan over to intercept Rebecca on her way to the table.  
  
"Hey, Rebecca! . Why are you wet?" Ryan asked.  
  
"Oh, hey," Rebecca said with a smile, "um, Charlie and I got into a snowball fight on our way here." Russel glared at Charlie when she said this.  
  
"You came with Weasley?" questioned Ryan.  
  
"Yeah, he was nice enough to bring me here," answered Rebecca and she started to explain to them how she woke up late and no one was around, but Charlie. They decided to come down here because it was where all the students were.  
  
"Oh well wasn't that nice. . Um, I got an idea why don't you come around with my friends and me for the rest of the day? I'm sure Charlie would like to catch up with his friend and we can show you around then," Ryan suggested. Russel who actually started to smile to show he approved of the proposal.  
  
Rebecca gave them a smile, but said, "Actually, Charlie only came because I asked him to so I think I will stay with him, maybe some other time." Russel stopped smiling and Ryan looked confused when Rebecca turned and walked away them.  
  
Rebecca made it to the table and found that Charlie had already ordered them some hot chocolate. Rebecca took her seat and looked at Charlie. "Thanks. I needed something warm to drink," she said.  
  
Charlie smiled mischievously and said, "Well it does come with a price."  
  
"And what is that?" Rebecca laughed knowing that Charlie had something up his sleeve.  
  
"You have to answer another question for me."  
  
"What's the question?"  
  
"Why were you so surprised that you were put into Gryffindor at the beginning of the year?"  
  
Rebecca looked at Charlie shocked and stuttered, "I. I. just didn't think that I belonged in the house. I could see qualities of the other houses in me but when it came to the brave Gryffindors I didn't think I had what I needed in me to fit. I never felt brave about anything, so when the sorting hat called out 'Gryffindor,' I felt like there was a mistake."  
  
Charlie looked at Rebecca right eyes and said, "Why did you ever think that? You are one of the bravest people I know. You switched schools this year and had to make all new friends. The person giving you guidance in life died and you still keep going. You stand up to people and even though you're a very independent person, you ask for help when you really need it. You raised your hand in Snape's class and even if you didn't have any other example of bravery that is more than enough to prove that you are a very courageous person."  
  
"I never thought of it that way." 'What a guy! He knew exactly what to say,' she thought to herself. 'Can't believe he remember my reaction to the sorting.' Rebecca smiled and took a sip of her hot chocolate.  
  
They continued to talking as the sipped on their drinks. Charlie somehow got Rebecca to admit that all the changes in her life made her never take anything for granted, even if all the clues point in the same direction. Sometimes she believed that she was just seeing things that didn't really exist.  
  
Eventually, their conversation turned to quidditch when Rebecca told Charlie of what she had first thought when she woke up that morning. Rebecca admitted to Charlie that she didn't know too much about the sport.  
  
Charlie was in disbelief and said, "But you act like you understand what is going on at the last match."  
  
"I get the rules, I just don't know much else about it like what certain maneuvers are called and the history behind it," Rebecca responded.  
  
"You've never read Quidditch through the Ages, then?"  
  
"No, I don't even own that book."  
  
"I'll let you borrow my copy."  
  
"I'll hold you to that."  
  
They both smiled and sipped on their hot cocoa.  
  
After talking some more, they were warmed up and their clothes were dry. "You ready to explore the town?" Charlie asked when their mugs were finally empty.  
  
"Yeah, let's go," said Rebecca excitedly.  
  
"Do you know where you want to go?"  
  
"Everywhere!"  
  
"Okay," Charlie laughed. "How about we go to Zonko's, the joke store, first, then we will go to Honeydukes, the candy store, and then see what else there is to see. Sound good?" Rebecca nodded and they got up.  
  
Ryan and Russel didn't notice them leave even though they had been keeping an eye on them for most of the time, because Cassie was making a fuss about Christmas presents and demanded their attention.  
  
Rebecca and Charlie walked across the street and were almost to the door when Charlie slipped on the ice. Though he didn't fall, Rebecca took his hand and playfully mimicked Charlie as she said, "I better keep a hold of you so you don't hurt yourself." She pause briefly thinking and then added, "Of course if you fall, you'll probably take me down with you."  
  
Charlie, who had been smiling at her since Rebecca repeated his words, busted up laughing with her last comment. Rebecca started laughing too and they walked into the store hand in hand.  
  
In the joke store, they continued to laugh as they walked around the store looking at all the items. They spotted Colin and Cathrine looking at different items, whispering to each other, and then laughing. "Looks like some people are getting ideas for new pranks, we better keep an eye on them when we are all back at the castle," Charlie said as he lead Rebecca past them giving them a smile. Colin and Cathrine flashed innocent smiles at him and then went back to their planning.  
  
As they continued down the aisles, Charlie picked up an assortment of tricks. "My brothers, the twins, will love these," Charlie said as he bought them.  
  
"Will your mother?" Rebecca asked smiling.  
  
"No, I'll probably get a howler when they finally decide to use them." They both laughed and started towards the door passing on their way out Ryan and his Slytherin group.  
  
"Now, which way?" Rebecca giddily asked when they got out the door.  
  
"This way," Charlie pointed and they started walking to Honeydukes hand in hand.  
  
They walked around the sweet shop looking at the selection and talking about what they liked and didn't like. They ran into James and Jacquelyn and told them "Hi," but continued on through the store by themselves.  
  
Charlie started to pick up items as he looked. "I think this is what Ron likes," Charlie said as he picked up some sweets for Christmas presents. "I always forget who likes what."  
  
"Do you always give your siblings candy for Christmas?"  
  
"Yeah, it usually is part of the gift I give them. You must think these are a lot of gifts for me to buy?" Charlie said as he headed to the register to pay for his gifts.  
  
"No, it must be nice to have someone to buy presents for," Rebecca said as she joined Charlie at the check out counter. Even though she was smiling, Charlie could see there was a hint of sadness in her eyes.  
  
"You don't have anyone to buy gifts for," Charlie said as he paid.  
  
"Not anymore," Rebecca softly said as she started to think about Wadsworth and what she got him last Christmas.  
  
It was in that moment that Charlie realized how lonely Rebecca was and how lucky he was to have a family. He turned to Rebecca and suddenly said, "Well, let's exchange gifts then."  
  
"Are you sure?" Rebecca said hesitantly. She knew his family didn't have a lot of money and adding a new person to his list might make things financially tighter for him.  
  
"Yeah," Charlie said with a soothing tone in his voice that made Rebecca more relaxed about the idea.  
  
She smiled and said, "That would be nice," as they walked out of the door.  
  
They stood outside, set a price limit and a time to meet back at the Three Broomsticks. They then headed separate directions in search of gifts for one another.  
  
Charlie knew exactly where he was going and what he was getting Rebecca, so he went to pick up some more gifts for his family before he would get Rebecca's.  
  
He ended up running into Sara on his way to the bookstore. "Hey Sara, How's your day going?"  
  
"Hey, Charlie. It's going pretty good. I got Greg's gift while he went off to who knows where. . Um, I thought you weren't coming today?"  
  
"Well, I wasn't but Becca woke up and asked where everyone was at and since she had never been here before I brought her down."  
  
"Where is she at?" Sara asked concerned that when looked around for Rebecca there was no Rebecca to be found.  
  
"Oh she is off doing some Christmas shopping."  
  
"By herself?"  
  
"Yeah, she is buying a gift for me so I can't be around when she gets it and besides it gives me a chance to get her gift."  
  
"You guys are getting each other gifts?"  
  
"Yeah, Rebecca doesn't have anyone to buy gifts from so since we're friends I suggested that we exchange gifts."  
  
Sara nodded wondering what was going through Charlie's head and asked, "So what are you going to get her?"  
  
"A book"  
  
Sara rolled her eyes and muttered, "How romantic?"  
  
"What?"  
  
"Oh, um, I was just wondering what Rebecca was going to get you. Well I got to go and meet Greg. I'll talk to you later."  
  
"Okay, Bye," Charlie said as Sara left. 'I wonder what Rebecca is going to get me," he thought to himself heading into the bookstore.  
  
Rebecca had an idea of what she was going to get, but didn't know where to get it. She wandered up the street looking at the different store windows to see what they sold.  
  
Finally, she found the store with a broomstick in the window. She was walking in as Greg walked out. "Hey Rebecca, what are you doing?" he said smiling at her.  
  
"Oh just looking around," she responded looking at her shoes for a second.  
  
"Are you here with anyone?"  
  
"Well, Charlie and I came together, but we separated so we could do some Christmas shopping."  
  
"Oh well that's cool. Too bad Charlie didn't come this way."  
  
"Really, why?"  
  
"Their having a sale on quidditch arm pads in there and he needed a new set. He might be able to get a better pair than he was expecting to."  
  
"Well, maybe he'll come down this way."  
  
"Maybe, but I think he was going to have to wait until after Christmas to get them anyways. Well I got to get going and find Sara since she was off shopping by herself. I'll see you later."  
  
"Yeah, I'll see you." As Greg walked away, Rebecca skipped into the store. Greg told her exactly what she wanted to know.  
  
Rebecca walked in and found the right section for arm pads. She was looking at the different types of arm pads when someone walked up behind her.  
  
Rebecca jumped a little when she heard a male voice say, "Thinking of taking up Quidditch?"  
  
She turned around found it was Russel. "Oh you scared me. Um no, not exactly, I was looking for a Christmas present. Unfortunately, I have no clue what I am looking for in quality or anything else for that matter."  
  
"Well I can help you there." Russel started going into the different brand and which were high quality arm pads. In about a half an hour, Rebecca had a high quality set that she really like and really wanted to get Charlie but they were over the price limit. After about a minute of just staring at the set, Rebecca decided she didn't care about how much they cost. Charlie had done so much for her this year she needed to show him that she did appreciate it and that he was a really great guy.  
  
She bought the pair and walked out of the store with Russel close behind her. "So Rebecca who are they for?" he asked once they were outside.  
  
"Oh they're for Charlie. . Well, I got to get going and find him. Thanks for your help. I'll see you later," said Rebecca as she started back towards the Three Broomsticks leaving Russel standing there just staring at her.  
  
"I help her pick out a gift for him," he angrily muttered to himself  
  
Charlie met Rebecca at the front of the tavern. They both had their bags behind there backs so that the other couldn't see what they had gotten.  
  
"Ready to go," Charlie asked as Rebecca came closer.  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca said. "So, what'd you get me?" Rebecca gave him a mischievous smile.  
  
Charlie looked at her and parroted back at her, "What'd you get me?"  
  
"It's a secret."  
  
"What a coincidence, so is what I got you." Rebecca playfully dropped her jaw to act like she was shocked and then started to laugh.  
  
They, then, took each others hand and stepped on the slippery path back to Hogwarts.  
  
Charlie and Rebecca tried get a glimpse at what the other one had gotten them the whole walk back to Hogwarts and laughing when they got caught doing so.  
  
Before they knew it, they were in at the gate. They passed on their way up to the castle some first years who were sledding.  
  
After they made it up to the Gryffindor and hide the gifts in their rooms, Charlie and Rebecca meet back in the Common Room. "So what should we do now?" Rebecca asked seeing that they were the only ones that were back from Hogsmeade.  
  
"Well we could study."  
  
"Ugh!"  
  
"We could sleep."  
  
"I'm not really that tired, right now."  
  
"That's good, because neither am I. How about we go sledding?"  
  
"Sounds good to me." Charlie and Rebecca smiled at each other and headed back outside.  
  
The two were sledding for a long time and Rebecca was having the best time. She hadn't laughed so much since she left Beauxbatons. Finally, the other students started coming back from Hogsmeade so Charlie and Rebecca decided they better go in and get warmed up.  
  
Rebecca threw a snowball at Charlie and dashed off towards the castle laughing. Charlie was in pursuit of her laughing all the way. Rebecca was almost to the front door when she slipped on an ice patch and fell. Charlie dropped down beside her.  
  
"Are you alright?" he asked touching her face softly.  
  
"Yeah, I just slipped," responded Rebecca.  
  
She tired to get up, but Charlie scooped her up before she could even sit herself up. Charlie walked into the castle and up to the common room, before he let Rebecca down. He sat her in the chair next to the fire.  
  
James and Jacquelyn were sitting on the couch and looked at them curiously. With in a second, Colin, Cathrine, Greg, and Sara came up to see what was going on. Both Rebecca and Charlie were not aware that they had an audience. They were just staring into each others eyes. Rebecca couldn't believe that Charlie carried her all the way up there.  
  
Finally, Charlie whispered, "You are sure you're okay?"  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca whispered back.  
  
"Well I think we need to get out of these wet clothes then."  
  
Rebecca nodded and started to get up with Charlie's help. James and the rest of the gang started to act like they hadn't been paying attention when Rebecca started to move.  
  
As soon as Charlie and Rebecca were out of sight, they started to whisper to each other about what they saw and speculating whether Charlie and Rebecca were a couple now or not.  
  
"Did anyone else see Charlie or Rebecca or both of them at Hogsmeade?" Sara asked looking around the group.  
  
"We saw them in Zonko's," Colin volunteered.  
  
"Yeah, Charlie had a hold of her hand as they walked past us," added Cathrine.  
  
"We saw them at Honeydukes. They were holding hands there as well," Jacquelyn said.  
  
James thought for a moment and said, "You know it is sort of funny that Charlie only said 'Hi' to us. Usually if he is doing something he'll invite us to join him. It was like he just wanted it to stay only him and Rebecca walking around."  
  
"Well, I don't know. I saw Rebecca by herself outside of the quidditch shop and nothing seemed that out of the ordinary. She was just going to do some shopping," stated Greg.  
  
Sara looked at him and stated, "She was buying Charlie a gift."  
  
"What?" Greg said looking at her surprised.  
  
"I saw Charlie outside of the bookstore. When I asked him what he was doing since he said that he wasn't going with us this morning, he said that Rebecca wanted to come so he came with her. Rebecca wasn't around so I asked where she was at and he told me about how they were exchanging gifts and that they separated to shop for each other," Sara informed the group.  
  
"Huh? Then they must be going out now," said Cathrine.  
  
"I don't think so. When I talked to him, he referred to them as friends. And we all know that Charlie would say girlfriend if they were actually dating," stated Sara.  
  
"It is so obvious that they would be perfect together. Why can't Charlie see that?" wondered Jacquelyn.  
  
Colin then got a mischievous smile on his face and said, "Maybe Charlie needs a little help seeing it."  
  
"Oh, yes, I bet we could come up with some great pranks that would get them together," Cathrine excitedly added.  
  
Greg could see that Colin and Cathrine's minds were already at work formulating plans and he need to get them to slow down, so he said, "Um guys we don't know what transpired when they left Hogsmeade. They could have changed from just being friends to a couple after they left. Let's watch them and see what is going on before we start meddling."  
  
Everyone agreed and started talking about other things as Charlie and Rebecca finished changing up stairs.  
  
Rebecca got changed and looked at the clock. There was an hour before dinner, plenty of time to get a little studying done. Rebecca walked down to the common room with some of her books. Charlie met Rebecca on the stairs with some of his books.  
  
"Going to study?" he asked playfully.  
  
"Yeah, that was my plan. It looks like you read my mind," Rebecca laughed. Charlie laughed and followed Rebecca into the common room. They found some seats together and started to study not aware that their friends were watching them closely.  
  
Soon it was time to go down to dinner. Rebecca and Charlie walked down to dinner together and got a lot of looks from the other students.  
  
"Wonder why they're all staring?" Rebecca asked looking at Charlie with a puzzled face.  
  
"Who knows? I guess we'll find out at dinner when the rumor comes through the grape vine." Charlie said looking around at the students.  
  
He and Rebecca walked in to the Great Hall. As Charlie proceeded to the table, Rebecca was stopped by Ryan who was waiting for her.  
  
"Hey, Rebecca how was your day?" he said.  
  
"Hey Ryan, my day was great. I had a lot of fun. How was yours?" Rebecca said with a smile barely able to contain any of her enthusiasm for the day.  
  
"Um, I had a good day. Listen Rebecca, I heard that Weasley carried you into the castle," Ryan said nervously.  
  
"Oh, that must be why everyone was looking at us," Rebecca said with innocent smile.  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Charlie and I went sledding this afternoon when we came back from Hogsmeade. When we were coming back in, I slipped on some ice and fell. Charlie picked me up and brought me in."  
  
"Did he carry you all the way up to Gryffindor tower?"  
  
"Yeah? Why?"  
  
Ryan was getting frustrated with Rebecca's attitude towards the situation. 'She is acting like it is an everyday occurrence. Why?' he thought. Ryan was about to ask round of questions when Cassie and Kirsta came up, so he had to cool off.  
  
"Hey. How are you, Rebecca? That was so sweet of Charlie to carry you into the castle. You're so lucky to have him. ... Come on Ryan let's go get a seat," Cassie said as she scooted Ryan towards the Slytherin table.  
  
Rebecca was so glad to see Cassie. She couldn't grasp what Ryan was getting upset with, but Cassie was able to settle him down. In fact Cassie was always the one that could get Ryan off her back. 'I have a new favorite person,' Rebecca laughed as she took her seat for dinner and started to talking to Charlie some more.  
  
After dinner, Charlie and Rebecca walked up to the common room together. They ended up talking about Charlie's favorite class, Care of Magical Beasts. He was going on and on about dragons when they made it to the room.  
  
"Where did you get this fascination of dragons from?" Rebecca asked amazed at Charlie's knowledge of dragons. She had never seen a dragon and had not learned a lot about them in her lifetime.  
  
"Hold on a minute," Charlie said as he dashed off towards the bed rooms.  
  
Rebecca sat down on the middle of the couch and looked out the window. It was snowing again and Rebecca smiled. Ever since she was little she loved it when it snowed, because snow falling was the most magical thing to her.  
  
After a couple of minutes Charlie came back down and sat beside Rebecca. "Hey I thought you left me here," Rebecca joked.  
  
Charlie smiled and said, "Sorry, it was deeper in my trunk then I thought." He showed Rebecca a book with a tattered cover and broken spine. "I got it for my 10th birthday from my grandparents. I can't even tell you how many times I've read it or even just looked at the pictures," he said as opened the book.  
  
Rebecca sat back and leaned over to get a better look at the book. She and Charlie sat there for hours talking and looking at Charlie's old book. Rebecca started to get tired but didn't want to go to bed.  
  
'It's been a perfect day. I don't want it to end just yet,' she thought to herself as she laid her head on Charlie's shoulder. Charlie smile to himself and kept on talking about dragons They sat there for another hour until they decided it was time to go to bed. 


	8. Christmas

They awoke the next morning and realized that there was a ton of homework to do, so the rest of the weekend was spent getting that done.  
  
Monday started the week before Christmas break. There were decorations all over reminding everyone what holiday was coming up. Classes dragged on and all the students' minds were wandering. By Wednesday, the entire student body felt that the week was lasting a month.  
  
That morning at Rebecca was sitting at breakfast trying to read a book and eat at the same time, when Charlie sat down beside her while the rest of the group filled in the seats around the two.  
  
Charlie and Rebecca exchanged smiles and continued with breakfast. They hadn't really had a chance to talk since the weekend, but never missed an opportunity to smile at each other, which led to the confusion of the rest of the group. No one could tell whether they were a couple or not just by watching the two interact. Greg did get Charlie to call Rebecca a friend just that morning, but didn't tell the rest of group because he wanted Charlie to come to his senses without any help of a prank.  
  
It was about fifteen minutes before anyone needed to get up to go to class when the mail came. A brown barn owl landed right in front of Rebecca and looked at her. Rebecca stared at it for a moment and then started to smile. She fed the owl some toast and then took the letter it was holding.  
  
As the owl flew off, Rebecca tore into the letter. Everyone watched her carefully to see what was making her so excited. Even James and Jacquelyn who were in the midst of an argument over homework stopped to see what was going on. A few moments passed as Rebecca read her letter. Finally she looked up with a huge smile as she exclaimed, "YEAH!"  
  
"What is that all about?" Cathrine asked the one question that was on everyone's mind.  
  
"This is a letter from the place that has my parent's will. Anyways, it says that as long as I stay here for Christmas break, I get a voice in whether I get to be able to finish up schooling here," explained Rebecca barely able to contain herself.  
  
"That's great," said Colin.  
  
"Are you actually going to give up your break for this?" asked Charlie looking into her eyes with look of hope.  
  
"Oh, yeah, it's not like I really have any place to go. I mean I have a house and everything, but without family there, I really don't have a reason to leave for break, so I was going to stay here anyways. Besides, even if I did have some reason to go, I would stay here over break if it means that I get to say no more transferring," Rebecca said. She looked down at the letter again, wanting to make sure she didn't misread anything. This was the best Christmas gift she could have gotten this year, because she was paranoid about being told that she would be leaving.  
  
The group excitedly talked about Rebecca being back to the following year until it was time to get to class. Everyone got up together, but the girls walked off with Rebecca talking the whole way to class on a new subject leaving the guys behind.  
  
"Dude, isn't it nice that Rebecca is becoming part of the group?" asked Greg giving Charlie a teasing smile.  
  
James smiled at Charlie the same way and stated, "I don't think I have seen her walk to anywhere by herself all week. She is always with either Sara or Cathrine."  
  
"Yeah, I think she is a nice addition to our merry little group," added Colin smiling too.  
  
Charlie didn't notice the smiles because he was staring at the girls walking away as he said, "Yeah, it is nice that she is getting to know people around here."  
  
James, Colin, and Greg looked at each other and started laughing. Charlie gave them a look asking what they were laughing at.  
  
"Come on mate, lets go to class," Greg said trying to cover up his laughter. The guys caught up the girls, and headed to class.  
  
Classes at Hogwarts eventually wound down for the holidays on Friday. That night, many students were busy packing to go home for break the next day. Rebecca sat down by the fire reading while everyone was busy in the dorm rooms. Lauren joined Rebecca for a short while, because she was staying for the holidays, also, and wanted to stay out of everyone else's way. Eventually, Lauren went to bed leaving Rebecca by herself.  
  
Charlie finished up his packing and came down to the almost deserted common room. He walked over to Rebecca with a smile and leaned sown to whisper in her ear, "I think it is time to exchange presents." Rebecca smiled and they both went to get the presents.  
  
Rebecca made it back down to the couch before Charlie did. She sat facing the stairs on the couch and put Charlie's gift on the floor next to her. Charlie appeared on the stairs a few moments later and had his hands behind his back. He stepped over the couch and sat next to Rebecca so she couldn't see what was behind his back.  
  
She looked at him and said, "Since we are doing this gift exchange for me. I get to give you your gift first."  
  
Charlie stopped her from grabbing her gift to him, when he put his present to her in Rebecca's lap and said, "No, I suggested it so I get to give the gift first. Come on open it."  
  
Rebecca tried to protest but with no luck, so she ripped open the wrapping and saw that Charlie had gotten her Quidditch through the Ages.  
  
"Oh! Oh! Oh! This is so great," Rebecca said as she gave Charlie a hug. "I love it. Thank you." Rebecca said as flipped though and saw that Charlie wrote in it.  
  
Becca,  
  
Hope this helps in your understanding of the game. I'm glad you will be around for more quidditch seasons.  
  
Merry Christmas!  
  
Love,  
  
Charlie.  
  
Rebecca gave Charlie a smile and reached down to get Charlie's gift. As she handed him the gift, Rebecca moved so that she was sitting facing the fire right next to Charlie. He opened the gift and stared at it for a few moments.  
  
"How did you know?" Charlie finally said surprised.  
  
"I heard you say something this fall to Greg about needing new arm pads and then when I was walking around Hogsmeade, I ran into Greg as he came out of the quidditch shop. He told me you still hadn't gotten any when he was telling me about the sale that was going on, so I decided to that was what your gift was going to be. They were a little more than the limit we set, but you have been there so much for me this year that I decided you deserved to get them from me." Charlie tried on the arm pads, speechless because from what Rebecca said.  
  
"Are they the right size?" Rebecca asked anxiously.  
  
"Yeah they're perfect. Thanks," he said and leaned over and gave Rebecca kiss on her cheek.  
  
With a smile, Rebecca leaned in on him, picked up her book and started to look at it. Charlie added a few insights to what Rebecca was reading as he continued to look at his arm pads.  
  
After telling each other how great the gifts were a dozen or so times, they finally decided it was time to go to bed. As they got up from the couch Rebecca turned to Charlie, smiled and said, "Merry Christmas, Charlie!"  
  
Charlie said "Merry Christmas, Becca!" as he and Rebecca walked towards the stairs.  
  
The next morning, the students that were going on the train woke up early to make sure they packed everything and that they got to the station on time. As the other girls rushed around with their last minute packing activities, Rebecca woke up, got dressed, and went down to get some breakfast. Lauren joined her after a few minutes.  
  
Rebecca noticed that Lauren did not look to happy that day and asked, "Hey what's the matter? Why do you look so forlorn?"  
  
"Forlorn?" Lauren asked looking up from her breakfast with puzzled face.  
  
"It means sad or unhappy."  
  
"Oh... well I have to stay over the holidays, because it is too much for my family to afford to get me home from London and then back. I'm really homesick too."  
  
"Well, I am going to be here too, so we'll do something that will make the time fun. I know it won't be the same, but we can still try. What do you usually do at home with your family?"  
  
"Well we do a lot of different things together, but probably the best thing is on Christmas day when my family and I put a puzzle together."  
  
"Puzzles! You like to put puzzles together?" Rebecca asked very, very excited.  
  
"Yeah, do you like them too?"  
  
"Oh I adore them. They are practically my favorite muggle thing."  
  
"Wow that's cool." They smiled at each other and continued to eat as more students filtered in.  
  
Charlie and his friends came in and took seats that surrounded the two girls. "Hey, how are you two doing?" Colin asked as he filled his plate.  
  
"We're doing well. Did you get everything packed that you need?" Rebecca responded.  
  
Before Colin could answer, James piped in, "He probably hasn't so don't be surprised Rebecca if you get an owl asking you to send him something."  
  
There were a couple of snickers among the group and Colin gave James a dirty look but finally said, "You know he probably is right, if my head wasn't screwed on." Everyone laughed at Colin trying to unscrew his head as he spoke.  
  
They continued to eat and talk. In the course of the conversation Jacquelyn revealed that she knew a secret that Lauren would want to know. It turned out that a first year Ravenclaw, named Sean O'Donnell, thought she was smart and beautiful and that he really liked her. This news led to some light-hearted ribbing from the group and Lauren blushed.  
  
Charlie sat and ate quietly as all the excitement happened. He smiled at Rebecca a couple of time when she looked at him, but didn't say anything. Greg noticed Charlie's lack of participation and it seemed to him that Charlie had something on his mind.  
  
When it was finally announced that it was time for the students to head to the train station, Greg asked Rebecca and Lauren, "Are you two going to come and see us all off?"  
  
Rebecca answered in a heart beat, "Yeah that would be fun."  
  
Lauren looked apprehensive until Jacquelyn said, "Yeah, Lauren you should come. I'm sure Carolyn and Aisha would get a kick out of you seeing them off. Plus you might get to see Sean."  
  
"O-o-o-okay," Lauren stuttered unsure of the last part, but got up and went to get her cloak and scarf so she could see her friends off.  
  
The group got up and started to leave to get ready to get to the train station. As Charlie got up, he turned to Rebecca as if he was going to say something really important. Greg held back from the group to see what Charlie was going to say. Rebecca looked at Charlie and sweetly smiled at him.  
  
"Becca?" Charlie started wring a napkin in his hand.  
  
"Yeah?" she replied looking in to his eyes. 'She has the sweetest smile I have ever seen,' Charlie thought to himself before he said, "um . I . um. well I just wanted to thank you for the Christmas present. They are the best pair for a seeker."  
  
"You're welcome. I really like what you got me too. Thanks for the book." Rebecca walked away to go get her cloak still smiling. Greg was dumbfounded he couldn't believe what he just heard. He thought Charlie was going to say something else, something more important. There was no way that what Charlie actually said was what had been on his mind all breakfast.  
  
Greg was staring at Charlie, when Charlie turned to put his napkin on the table. "What?" Charlie asked Greg.  
  
"That was it? That was all you were going to say? What is going on?" Greg asked upset.  
  
"What are you talking about? You're acting like a girl, we just exchanged gifts. I told her thank you last night and I told her again today. It's not a big deal."  
  
"Yeah, you're allowed to by gift for whoever you want and tell them thank you as many times as you want, but dude?"  
  
"But, what?"  
  
"Don't you see it?"  
  
"See what?"  
  
"Never mind."  
  
"No, what?"  
  
"It's nothing . just my imagination. . So, what did she get you?"  
  
"Arm pads."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, they're great."  
  
As they walked out of the great hall, Charlie told Greg about the arm pads that Rebecca picked out for them and some of what happened the night before. Greg just listened, noting what transpired, and wondering whether Charlie realized that he was falling for Rebecca.  
  
Down at the train station student excitedly boarded the train and told the ones that were staying good-byes and Christmas greetings. Charlie and his friends said their good-byes and went on to the train to find a compartment together. Rebecca was standing on the platform outside of the compartment Charlie picked and waiting for the train to pull out so she could wave good bye to all the students when Lauren came to stand with her.  
  
Harvey walked by and ran into Lauren. He looked at who he ran into and said, "Watch where you're going Mudblood. Oh, what, aren't you going on the train? Doesn't anyone love you at home or are you just to poor to afford the trip?"  
  
Harvey got Lauren upset with this and her eyes started to swell with tears. Rebecca was speechless. She knew that she couldn't say anything to get the callus boy to apologize to Lauren.  
  
Charlie and Greg saw from their compartment's window and started toward the exit to help out. They were on the steps of the train when Harvey started to walk away and ran into Russel.  
  
"What did I say about using that word?" Russel asked. Harvey just turned around and fearfully stared at Russel.  
  
As Russel went on lecturing Harvey, Rebecca turned to consol Lauren and saw that Charlie and Greg were standing waiting to see if they were needed. She smiled at them to let them know that everything was under control and they could go back to their seats. The guys turned around and disappeared as Russel finished his speak with "I'm staying here this break too. Do you think that I don't have anyone that loves me at home or that misses me and you know that I can afford to go home if I wanted to. Now apologize to her."  
  
Harvey turned towards Lauren and looked her in the eyes and saw what his word did. "I'm sorry I said all of those mean things and I won't call you a mudblood anymore."  
  
Lauren turned her eyes to the ground and turned towards the train.  
  
"I just apologized," shouted Harvey. Lauren didn't answer at this.  
  
Rebecca told Harvey as she turned towards the train, "Sometimes it takes more than just words to make everything better." Harvey ran off to get a seat on the train.  
  
As he left, he passed another first year Slytherin. She had dark brown hair and was laughing hard. "I knew you wouldn't fight him," she said.  
  
"Oh, shut up, Alannah!" Harvey roared at her.  
  
"See you after break," she chuckled as Harvey entered the train.  
  
After Harvey was on the train, Rebecca turned slightly and saw Russel staring at her and Lauren.  
  
She smiled sweetly at him and mouthed, "Thank you."  
  
Russel's face soften, he shook his head, and softly whispered back, "It was nothing."  
  
The train started to move and Rebecca and Lauren waved to everyone until the train was out of the station.  
  
Rebecca turned toward Lauren when the train was out of sight. "Are you okay?" she asked. Lauren burst into tears. Rebecca gave her a hug and tried to comfort her. "I know his words were hurtful and that it was hard to keep it all in when he was around," she said as she escorted Lauren toward the carriage that would take them back to the castle.  
  
Russel walked up behind them and asked, "Is everything okay?" as Lauren and Rebecca climbed into the carriage He looked at Lauren with a great concern in his eyes Rebecca had never seen before.  
  
"I think it will be eventually. We'll talk and find out. See you at lunch," Rebecca answered Russel as he shut the door of the carriage and walked to another carriage. He could take a hint that he would not want to be in that carriage on the way back to the castle.  
  
Lauren looked at Rebecca when she settled down a little and said, "I just couldn't accept his apology again."  
  
"I know. I don't think that I would have if he did it to me. Especially since he had already apologized for using that word and you only accepted it on the condition he never use it again. It makes you think he doesn't actually feel bad about it." Lauren smiled a little to hear that Rebecca would have done the same.  
  
They arrived at the castle and walked up to the Gryffindor tower. Lauren took a nap and Rebecca started to really read Quidditch through the Ages.  
  
Right before it was time for lunch, Rebecca went up to her room to put her book away. It was strange to walk into the room and know that no one was there or would be coming in. She wasn't sure whether she really cared for it or not, because she really liked her roommates.  
  
Rebecca was about to walk back out the room when she noticed a letter on her bed. She picked it up and saw that it was from Stacy.  
  
Rebecca suddenly had a panic attack. 'I didn't tell Stacy that I was staying here. How am I going o tell her why I chose to stay here over going home and the chance of seeing her?' her mind raced.  
  
After a moment, she gained the courage to open the letter and see what Stacy had written.  
  
Rebecca,  
  
It's Christmas! Yeah! I just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and let you know that I won't be home during break. My family and I are going to visit family in Scotland. I wish I could see you this break. I miss you! (Sorry this is so short I am trying to pack and write at the same time. It isn't going to well)  
  
Merry Christmas!  
  
Stacy  
  
Rebecca sat down on her bed and gave a sigh of relief out as she finished the short note. She at least didn't have to write a letter to Stacy right now and explain why she wouldn't be able to see her.  
  
'I have to figure out the right way to phrase this. I know Stacy will understand but she will have to explain it to everyone. I am so afraid that they will take it as I have a vote in my schooling so I will be coming back and I don't know whether that is a choice I get or whether I even want to transfer again. Where is Sara when I need her? She could get me to get this all out in the open,' Rebecca thought as she got up to get a piece of parchment. She started to scribble out what she might say. Nothing seemed to be right.  
  
After the fifteenth attempt, she, finally, looked up at the clock in the room and saw that lunch had already started. Rebecca set down everything on the bed stand and walked down to the Great Hall still trying to think of how to say what all was going through her head.  
  
Russel had been the first student to lunch. He did it on purpose, because he wanted to save Rebecca and Lauren seats so that he could see how they were doing since he had left them. Lauren came in after a few minutes and grateful took the seat that Russel saved. Russel made polite conversation with Lauren while the other students filtered in. He kept looking at the entrance to see who was coming in and turned back to Lauren when he saw that it wasn't Rebecca.  
  
Finally after the food came to the tables and the students had filled their plates, Rebecca came in and took the seat between Russel and Lauren. She didn't say a word to either of them, just started putting food onto her plate. Russel and Lauren looked at each other with puzzled faces and finally Lauren said, "What's the matter Rebecca? Why are you so . f-f- forlorn?"  
  
Rebecca turned and looked at Lauren and politely said, "Oh, nothing has gotten me sad since you last saw me. I would say I am more preoccupied than forlorn about anything. . Good job using a new word though."  
  
Lauren smiled and went back to eating. She figured that Rebecca had to be okay after that response. Rebecca was about to start eating when Russel asked, "What's gotten you so worried then?" Rebecca about dropped her fork.  
  
After she finished fumbling with the fork, she looked at Russel and simply stated, "I have to tell my friends something and am not sure exactly how to say it without having them jump to the wrong conclusion."  
  
"Oh, well if you need help, I would be happy to try. What did you need to tell them?" Rebecca started in and explained to Russel the news in the letter she received in the earlier in the week and her fear that her old friends' conclusion of the news. Russel asked questions to get Rebecca to clarify why she was so excited to get told that she was getting to have a say in her schooling and why she said that she didn't want to transfer again especially if it meant that she could go back to Beauxbaton.  
  
Rebecca thought for a moment on the latter of the questions and finally said, " To tell the truth, I didn't think it was a possibility at first, but now that I think of it I don't know what I would do it if was. . Have you ever heard the saying 'You can't go home again'?" Russel nodded his head as Rebecca continued, "Well I think that even as much as I miss my friends at my old school after being apart of a year, things will be different. It won't be like I never left. They will have inside jokes from this year and I'll be wondering what is up with the people I met here. . And now that I think about it I have this feeling that Beauxbaton won't be a choice for schooling too since it would have been illogical to tell someone to transfer schools and then transfer back and I don't know how to tell them that as well."  
  
"So you think it might be a choice between Hogwarts and Durmstang." Rebecca nodded her head this time as Russel continued, "And you would choice would be Hogwarts then?"  
  
"Right now, but I can't make my decision based on one weekend. I probably won't even have to really think about this until we leave for summer holidays so I will have a whole year here to help me make my decision."  
  
The word weekend caused Russel to go from smiling to a grimace. All he could say was "Weekend?"  
  
Rebecca looked at him and responded, "What?"  
  
"You said that one weekend was not enough to base your decision on?"  
  
"Oh, I meant to say term." Russel nodded and turned back to his food trying to think of the perfect way Rebecca could explain this situation to her old friends.  
  
Rebecca picked back up her fork and thought, 'Did I really mean weekend though? Could this weekend have changed my view on how I feel about coming here? One weekend couldn't have. ... But then again if I would have gotten that letter any time this fall I probably would have been skipping for joy that I could go back to Beauxbaton. Now I am so torn about what I would want to do if that was a choice.'  
  
Rebecca then started to think of the people she had met at Hogwarts. Charlie's face popped up several times. 'I would like to get to know him better,' she thought as she finished her plate of food.  
  
After lunch, Rebecca returned to writing the letter to Stacy. By supper time she had what she thought was a decent letter explaining everything.  
  
She made sure to emphasis that she really did not think that Beauxbaton wouldn't be an option several different ways in the letter. Rebecca also used the saying 'You can't go home again' to start off her explanation of how things had to have changed since she left and that they would never be able to go back to the way they were. Also, she mentioned that she had a whole other term to go through before she would find out her choices and had no intention of making a decision about it until she heard them. She was very careful not to say anything about wanting to get to know people better over at Hogwarts so that her friends wouldn't get the feeling that she would discard them for the new people she met.  
  
After rereading the letter, Rebecca went to the owlery to send it. She then walked to dinner happy that the task was off her mind.  
  
During supper, Rebecca engaged the entire holiday student population in a massive conversation. Jokes were told and the laughter never seemed to stop. Even when dinner was over and all the dishes were cleared, the students sat round the table enjoying each others company. Professor McGonagall came in around ten o'clock and informed them that they needed to return to their respective common rooms for the night.  
  
As all the students filtered out of the room, Russel turned towards Rebecca with a smile and said, "You really changed since lunch."  
  
"Oh well it was because I wasn't worried about that letter anymore." Rebecca responded with a big grin on her face.  
  
"Oh, so you managed to get it done?"  
  
"Yeah, after talking with you I was able to write it all down. . Thanks for letting me ramble on about everything."  
  
"It was nothing."  
  
"No, it was something and I appreciated it. If I hadn't of talked it out with you, I probably would have stressed out and gave myself a headache. I think we all can guess what would have happened after that. So see it was something. . Well I better go see what is up with Lauren. I'll see you tomorrow. Night"  
  
Russel's smile got bigger as he said, "Yeah, see you tomorrow. . Sweet Dreams."  
  
Up in Gryffindor tower, Rebecca went to talk to Lauren, but found that she had already went to bed. She then decided to go to her own room and read the book Charlie gave her. She changed clothes and propped her self up in her bed so she could read comfortable. Rebecca keep reading and reading the book until she finished it at about 3a.m. She couldn't believe it was that time. It hadn't felt like she was reading it for that long. After putting the book on her bed stand, Rebecca settled her self into go to sleep. As she started to drift off, she thought, 'No wonder Charlie likes it so much. It really is a fascinating sport.'  
  
The next day Rebecca didn't wake up until Lauren came in to her room and posed the question, "Rebecca, are you going to get up today?"  
  
"Why?" Rebecca groggily replied.  
  
"Well, you missed breakfast and now you have missed lunch. I am afraid that you might miss dinner if you don't get up soon."  
  
Rebecca smiled at Lauren and said, "Thanks for your concern. I am going to try to get out of bed; it might take me a little bit, though."  
  
"Well, I'll come and check on you before I head down for supper, if I see you before that."  
  
"Thanks," Rebecca called after Lauren who was walking out of the room.  
  
Rebecca laid in her bed for a few more minutes and finally got herself out of bed. She took her time getting dressed and then headed down to the common room. Lauren was sitting on the couch looking at a wizard's chess set.  
  
Rebecca took a seat next to her as she asked, "You want to play?"  
  
Lauren looked up and smiled as she said, "I am not sure exactly how to. This is Aisha's set. She said that I could borrow it during holidays so that I could learn. I think she wants to play when she gets back."  
  
"Well I can teach you if you want."  
  
Lauren nodded and they started to play.  
  
By dinner time, Lauren had the game down and really didn't want to go down for supper. She agreed to go after Rebecca promised that they would play as soon as they were done with supper.  
  
As the girls enter the Great Hall, Russel stood up and them over to take seats next to him. Rebecca sat down and started to fill her plate full of everything on the table. Russel turned towards her and said, "You know if you would have come down for the other meals you wouldn't be so hungry."  
  
"Yeah well, if was would have been awake I would have came down," Rebecca responded before she took her first bite.  
  
Russel stared at her for a moment and then asked, "Are you feeling okay?"  
  
"Oh," Rebecca started. "um, I really feel great. Of course that may be from sleeping most of the day way." Rebecca looked at Russel and saw that he was just staring at her. It made her nervous the way that he was looking at her, so she quickly explained, "I stayed up late reading last night that's why I sleep so long today."  
  
"How late were you up?"  
  
"Three or so." Rebecca quickly took another bite of food.  
  
"Must have been some book. What was it?"  
  
"Quidditch through the Ages."  
  
"Oh, so you're brushing up on the game then."  
  
"Yes and no. I haven't ever played and I know there has to be things you can only learn by doing."  
  
"You never played? . If you want to some time, we can go out to the field and I can teach you how to play."  
  
"Um, maybe, when it is nicer out." Russel turned back to his plate with a big smile on his face.  
  
Rebecca ate some more and then looked over at Lauren who had already cleaned her plate. "You ready to go?" Rebecca inquired.  
  
Lauren politely responded, "When ever you are." Rebecca took a few more bites and had most of her plate done.  
  
The girls got up and started to leave when Russel asked, "Where are you two off to?"  
  
"Lauren wanted to play wizard's chess again. Night." Russel just stared as the girls walked out.  
  
Up in the room the girls played three games of chess and then called it a night.  
  
The next day was Christmas Eve and the students were really excited for the next day. Rebecca and Lauren spent most of their day playing chess in their common room only coming out for meals to keep their mind off the holiday. After dinner, they played one game and decided that it would be best to just go to bed so that the next day would come faster.  
  
On Christmas day Rebecca awoke to a pile of presents at the foot of her bed. There was a letter on top of the stack, which Rebecca opened first. It was a note from Charlie telling her thank you for the arm pads and that his brothers were jealous. Rebecca laughed, because she had wrote Charlie a letter the night before telling him a quidditch fact and saying thanks for the book. 'Our owls must have passed each other in the night,' she thought to herself as she sat the note on her night stand.  
  
Rebecca turned and grabbed a package from the pile. It was a gift from Wadsworth. She checked the name several times to make sure she read it right. In the end Rebecca realized that she was indeed holding a gift from Wadsworth even though he was dead. She tore the wrapping off the gift to discover he had gotten her a puzzle of a beautiful wooded scene. There was a note on the back of the box. Rebecca took the letter off and set back on there bed to read it.  
  
Dear Rebecca,  
  
I am writing this letter shortly before I will depart your life. Your parents left me with the duty to ensure your upbringing exposed you to different experiences. It has been an honor to watch you grow up into the fine young lady you are becoming. Though it pains me to leave you without any guidance when you receive your next set of instructions, I know that you will be fine. My finally advice to you is pick up the pieces and put together the puzzle of your life.  
  
Always Your Loyal Servant,  
  
Wadsworth  
  
Rebecca's eyes filled with tears when she finished the letter. She set the letter down on the bed and stared at it for a while.  
  
Tears were still rolling down her face when Rebecca finally grabbed another gift to open. It was a box of chocolate frogs from one of her servants with a note telling her thank you for the generous bonus.  
  
'They must have gotten them yesterday. I don't remember when I set them up to be distributed,' she thought herself desperately trying to get her mind off of Wadsworth's letter. She continued to open gifts from her servants. Most of them sent her candy, but some sent her other little gifts that reminded her of them.  
  
Rebecca thought she was done with opening gifts when she got out of bed and got dressed. She was about to walk out the door when she saw the last package that slid part way under her bed.  
  
She picked it up not knowing who it was from. Rebecca read the tag and saw that it was from the Weasley family. She opened the package to find a blue sweater with a golden R on it. As she walked out the door to go to breakfast, she threw the sweater on.  
  
Down in the common room Lauren was sitting by the fire reading a new book. "Merry Christmas, Lauren," Rebecca said as she hit the last step.  
  
Lauren looked up and said, "Merry Christmas, Rebecca. Where did you get the sweater?" Rebecca twirled around to give Lauren a better look.  
  
"It was one of my Christmas gifts. Charlie's family gave it to me. What did you get?"  
  
"I got this book, some candy, and my parents sent me some new clothes."  
  
"That's cool. Have you eaten yet?" Lauren shook her head no and started to get up from the couch. The girls headed down to the great hall and to join the rest of the student body that were still around for breakfast.  
  
Rebecca and Lauren were one of the first to show up. Russel soon showed up with a first year that looked similar to Russel and took a seat next to Rebecca, and said, "Merry Christmas, Lauren. Merry Christmas, Rebecca. Was that sweater a Christmas gift? It looks nice."  
  
Rebecca smiled and nodded. "Who's that?" Rebecca asked nodding towards the boy that came in with Russel.  
  
"Oh that is just my brother, Marcus," Russel responded nonchalantly.  
  
"You have a brother?"  
  
"Um, yeah."  
  
"Oh I must have missed that."  
  
"Weren't you playing any attention at the sorting ceremony?"  
  
"Nope, honestly I only really can remember Percy and Oliver getting sorted and that is it. Not that it really matters. I didn't know your last name, then, so I wouldn't have been able to put two and two together even if I was paying attention."  
  
"Oh, so what else did you get for Christmas?" As they talked, some more students came in, took a seat, and joined in the conversation.  
  
All the students were able to seat at one table and could easily talk to one another. During breakfast the students talked about what was the best thing they got. Rebecca told about the puzzle she got.  
  
Lauren's jaw dropped and said, "Oh! Can I help you put it together?"  
  
"Oh, yeah, you can help and so can anyone else that wants to. We'll set it up on one of the tables in here." Many of the students that were from muggle families were excited about it the idea of doing a puzzle. Some of the students who were not acquainted with muggle things were curious to see what a puzzle was.  
  
Alannah, the girl from the train station, rolled her eyes at the idea and talked to Marcus. They soon left to do something else.  
  
After breakfast was done, Rebecca walked out to get the puzzle while Russel left and seemed to just disappear. When she returned, the students gathered around and started putting the puzzle together. The puzzle was over a thousand pieces and was going to take a while to put together.  
  
By lunch they had the outside of the puzzle together and a few bits and pieces of the inside done. After lunch, they went back to the puzzle. Russel joined it too, but couldn't understand why everyone was so happy to do this without magic.  
  
Rebecca explained, "If you use magic, it wouldn't be fun. Just wait, you'll see." When Russel found his first set of piece that fit together; he understood what was so fun about doing a puzzle.  
  
The students work on the puzzle all day and had gotten a good deal done, but still had a lot done. The next day they continued the puzzle, but the difficulty of the puzzle and the students talking did not allow them to finish it that day.  
  
It took until the day before the rest of the students would return from break to get the puzzle done. Rebecca and Russel put the last pieces in place late that night. Rebecca smile and ran her fingers over the finished puzzle.  
  
"Now that it is done we can use magic," she said. Russel looked at her confused. "Watch," Rebecca said pulling out her wand. She waved it and muttered some words Russel couldn't make out. In a flash, the lines of the puzzle disappeared making it a solid picture.  
  
"Where are you going to put it?" Russel asked as Rebecca put her wand back in her pocket.  
  
"I have a stack of puzzles I've did in my trunk, so it will go there for now," responded Rebecca quietly as she stared at the puzzle as if she was looking for a hidden meaning in it.  
  
Russel stood there looking at her not knowing what to say other than, "That's cool. Well I guess its time to go to bed. I'll see you tomorrow."  
  
He reluctantly walked away and Rebecca told him good night nonchalantly continuing to stare at the puzzle. Rebecca stood there for a little while longer, then finally picked up the puzzle, and walked up stairs to go to bed.  
  
In her room, Rebecca flipped over the puzzle and spoke another spell and words appeared.  
  
Everyone changes like the river changes its course. Little by little the change occurs until the course turn into something unfamiliar.  
  
Rebecca read the words but was too tired to figure out what the saying meant. She put the puzzle away in her trunk.  
  
Rebecca didn't go to bed right away she stayed up and wrote Stacy a letter telling everything that happened since before her accident. She hadn't put any news of what was going on with her other than the letter from the lawyer in her last letter and felt a little guilt about it. It took her a long while to get everything down. After she finished the letter, Rebecca climbed into bed exhausted.  
  
The next day Rebecca woke up really early excited for everyone's return from break. It had been fun and the time went fast, but Rebecca did miss her new friends and couldn't wait to see them. She got dressed and threw on her Christmas sweater, which she had wore every day since she got it.  
  
Rebecca got down to breakfast and sat down next to Lauren. Russel came in a sat down across from Rebecca.  
  
"You really like that sweater," he commented staring at the sweater.  
  
Rebecca blushed, looked down at the sweater and said, "It's nice and warm."  
  
"Well you look nice in it," Russel said, but Rebecca didn't seem to hear because she was too busy looking out the Great Hall wondering when everyone was going to come back.  
  
Russel tried to talk the rest of breakfast, but Rebecca seemed to be too distracted to respond to anything. Finally Rebecca finished with breakfast and went up to the common room leaving Russel to wonder what was up with her.  
  
Once in the room, Rebecca got her copy of Quidditch through the Ages and sat on the couch with a blanket to read it again. She ended up falling asleep and awoke up to the commotion of people coming in. She looked up for a second but decided that she would rather sleep at that particular moment.  
  
Rebecca had laid her head back on the couch and was about to fall back to sleep when someone sat down at the end of the couch. Her goal was to ignore whoever it was, but the person's laughter was too much and Rebecca opened up her eyes to see who was disturbing her. It was Bill and he was smiling at her.  
  
"You had all break to get yourself rested and you're still tired?" he laughed.  
  
"Mmm-hmm," Rebecca nodded.  
  
"Are you going to go to dinner or are you sleep through it?"  
  
"Dinner? What about lunch?" Rebecca gave him a confused look and Bill busted up laughing.  
  
"Oh, you slept through lunch didn't you? That's great. Come on let's go down. I think Charlie and his friends are down there already looking for you. They must have missed you hibernating on the couch."  
  
Still laughing, Bill helped Rebecca up off of the couch and saw that she was wearing the sweater his mother made. He smiled and said, "I'll be right back."  
  
With that he dashed off to his room and left a tired Rebecca standing in the middle of a deserted common room rubbing her eyes.  
  
When Bill came down he had on a green sweater with a golden B on it and had something maroon in his hand. Rebecca and Bill walked downstairs talking about their Christmas sweaters. Rebecca mentioned that she had been wearing the sweater since she got it as they walked down the stairs to the door of the great hall.  
  
"Oh, well I guess I should say welcome to the family now," Bill said.  
  
"What?" Rebecca said smiling at him.  
  
"Mom makes a sweater for each of us kids each Christmas. You got one so I guess you're part of the family now." Rebecca's smile got bigger and they walked into the great hall.  
  
Bill and Rebecca made their way to the Gryffindor table. There were two seats next to Charlie that they took. Charlie looked up and smiled.  
  
"Hey, you found her, Bill. . We were just wondering where you were," he said looking at Rebecca.  
  
"Yeah, I found her on the couch you all must have walked by at least a couple of times," laughed Bill as he threw at Charlie what he had been carrying. Charlie looked at what Bill gave him.  
  
It was his Christmas sweater. He looked at Bill questioningly until he noticed Rebecca and Bill were wearing their sweaters. He pulled on the sweater and talked to Rebecca about her break. Bill joined in the conversation and Rebecca found herself turning her head a lot to look at who was talking to her.  
  
In one turning she caught sight of Russel who was glaring at her. 'I wonder why he is looking at me like that. I hope I didn't do something to get him mad at me. He's such a guy. I would hate to have him mad,' she thought. What she didn't know was that Russel had heard Bill and her discussing the sweaters and heard Bill say 'welcome to the family.'  
  
Rebecca was a little distressed at Russel's gaze, but soon forgot about it when someone commented on the similarity of Bill, Charlie, and Rebecca's sweaters.  
  
"Must be for red heads only," Carthrine teased.  
  
A.J. jokingly asked, "Hey how come I don't have a sweater? Rebecca doesn't even have true red hair, it is just the way the light is in here that makes her look like a red head, and she got one. . I bet Percy has one too. I feel left out. (sniff, sniff) . Come one Rebecca, how did you get a Weasley sweater?"  
  
Rebecca smiled and said, "I guess I am part of the family now." Bill and Rebecca started laughing at what was to be their inside joke. Charlie and his friends looked at the two wondering what was so funny. Greg was curious on what Rebecca's comment actually meant and continued to eat as he pondered its meaning.  
  
Dinner finished up and all the students went up to their rooms to go to bed, since everyone was tired and classes were resuming the next day. 


	9. Valentine's Day

Classes started back up and everything went on as usual. There was nothing exciting happen in January. Rebecca started back up her studying for the O.W.L.S. but not as rigorously. She found herself getting distracted easily by Charlie, Bill, or one of her other Gryffindor friends.  
  
Cathrine and Colin had come up with several plots to get Charlie and Rebecca together, but Greg would dash their hopes to set their plans in motion by pointing out that Charlie and Rebecca were around each other a lot.  
  
"But he doesn't hold her hand and she talks to everyone in the whole school," Colin said one day in late January trying to reason with Greg to go along with the latest plan.  
  
"Colin, let them alone," Greg said.  
  
"Why do you always say that?" asked Cathrine  
  
"Why do you always come to me with your plans?" Greg asked back.  
  
"Well, because we need you to help us get Charlie into position just like we need Sara for Rebecca. All our plans won't work if you too aren't in on it," explained Colin.  
  
"Well I think they need to have some more time. I have to say your plans are great especially since you guys have stayed out of detention lately, but it is not a good time to trick them together. So, why don't you guys use some of that energy and do your homework instead of coming up with plans," Sara stated.  
  
"Oh won't that be fun," Cathrine sarcastically said walking away.  
  
"You know Rebecca is around Flint just as much as she is around Charlie," Colin protested. He thought he finally found an argument that neither Greg nor Sara could find fault in, but he underestimated Sara.  
  
She looked him straight in the eye and said, "I know. I guess they talked a lot over break and I am sure she is sitting in the library with him right now. Every time I go to talk to her in the library he either comes over or is already there. And yes, after a while, it does lead you to wonder, but if you watch carefully you'd notice she doesn't act as comfortable with Russel as she does with Charlie. She'll actually seek Charlie out to talk to him about something. Rebecca never approaches Russel to talk. He always comes to her. Also, she describes them differently. Charlie is a great guy while Russel is a good guy. There is nothing to worry about there. . Besides, you're forgetting about Kirsta. Rebecca knows just like everyone else that Russel and Kirsta have something going on."  
  
"Oh, yeah," Colin muttered disappointed as he walked off to join Cathrine to work on their homework.  
  
Sara and Greg looked at each other and sighed. They had diverted another week's plot and were wondering when they could stop their vigilance of them.  
  
January ended and February started. It seemed this month was going to be just as predictable as the last until one night at dinner Dumbledore stood up and announced, "I would like to announce that the faculty and I have decided there will be a Valentine's Ball this year. It will be open to all students so I hope everyone will come and enjoy the dance."  
  
'Great, I guess that I can find a 1st year that might go with me,' Rebecca thought to herself. She didn't know who would ask her otherwise. Charlie and Bill were the only single guys she really talked to on a regular basis and they talked to a lot of different girls and several of them were single. Rebecca doubted either one of them would ask her, because she always had in the back of her mind that they only paid attention to her since she was the new kid and she had all those headaches.  
  
She was still thinking to herself about her date prospects when Dumbledore finished announcements and Charlie turned and looked at Rebecca. They exchanged smile but didn't really say anything.  
  
Rebecca turned back to her plate and saw Ryan looking at her intensely from the Slytherin table. Rebecca stared back until Cassie took the seat in front of Ryan blocking his view of Rebecca.  
  
'She probably is talking obsessively about the dance,' Rebecca thought smiling to herself. Of course all the other students were talking about the dance. Rebecca was the only one that seemed wasn't.  
  
Charlie had been talking to his friends, but eventually slipped out of the conversation when Sara started in on what she was wearing. He took this opportunity to lean over towards Rebecca and whisper, "I guess I better ask you to the ball before someone else gets the nerve to do it."  
  
Rebecca's jaw dropped. She looked at him and was about to answer when he said, "Well how about it? Will you go to the dance with me?" Before Rebecca had another chance to answer he added, "I'll get down on one knee and beg if that is what it takes."  
  
Rebecca laughed and finally said, "Yes." She leaned over and kissed Charlie on the cheek.  
  
It seemed that no one had noticed the kiss, since everyone was too excited to note what had been announced. However, Russel had been staring at Rebecca trying to get her attention so that he could ask her to the dance when he saw her lean over to kiss Charlie. His hopes were dashed and he looked down his table to see if there was someone else to ask.  
  
Charlie and Rebecca smiled at each other through out the rest of the meal. Rebecca was so happy, because Charlie was absolutely the first person that came to her mind when Dumbledore announced the ball. She however always thought too much and made herself think that Charlie had someone else to ask, even though everything that happened since she met him told her he wouldn't.  
  
The excitement of the ball got more and more intense each day. Each day details about the dance were discussed. Often there were groups of girls talking about the color of their dress robes or how the were going to do their hair in the halls. There were discussions of who was going with whom, which was a favorite topic among both the boys and girls of the school. Greg and Sara were happy that Charlie had asked Rebecca when he did, because they didn't have hear about any pranks from Colin and Cathrine since the two were content that Rebecca and Charlie were together.  
  
Finally, it was the Saturday of the dance. The student body buzzed at breakfast with not only talk of the dance, but also of the trip to Hogsmeade. After breakfast the students that were permitted to go into the village went to get their cloaks.  
  
Rebecca had gotten hers and was headed down the stairs towards the entrance where she was to meet Charlie and his friends. On the stairway she ran into Ryan and his friends.  
  
"Hey Rebecca, are you going to Hogsmeade today?" he said with a smile.  
  
"Yeah, it should be fun," Rebecca said with a smile.  
  
At that moment Greg walked down the stairs and said to Rebecca, "Hey, Sara will be right down and then we can start out."  
  
"Sounds good," replied Rebecca with a bigger smile than she had given Ryan.  
  
"You're going with Weasley and his group, aren't you?" Ryan about shouted at Rebecca when Greg was out of sight.  
  
Rebecca looked at him shocked and simply answered, "Yes."  
  
"Why don't you ever go with me and my friends?"  
  
"You never ask," Rebecca quickly retorted and hurried off to catch up with the other Gryffindors so she wouldn't get yelled at again. Sara joined the group a few moments later and they were off.  
  
At Hogsmeade, the Gryffindor group walked through streets laughing and window shopping. The guys disappeared for a short time and showed back up acting mysterious. They wouldn't even give a short answer to where when the girls asked. The girls just rolled their eyes and the group continued their way through the village.  
  
Unbeknownst to the group, Ryan and his friends were always peering around looking at them to find proof that Rebecca and Charlie were dating. There was a problem though. The Gryffindors were always in different pairings, so Ryan couldn't even tell who was dating who. He saw Rebecca with James at the music store discussing different types of music. Greg had his arm resting on Rebecca's shoulders while they looked around the quidditch shop as Charlie talked to Cathrine in a different part of the store. Colin and Rebecca walked around the candy store together when Ryan was in there.  
  
'You would think that they would stay with their girlfriends or boyfriends if they were really dating,' he thought to himself as Cassie dragged him into another store away from Rebecca and her group. Ryan didn't see Rebecca again until it was time to go back to the castle. He saw that the Gryffindors had finally properly paired back up and that the boyfriends and girlfriends were holding hands. The path back to the castle was not as slippery as it was in December so Charlie and Rebecca were not holding hands. Ryan noted this and once again decided that there was nothing between the two so he was just being paranoid.  
  
Back at the castle there was an announcement that there would be an early dinner and refreshment would be served at the dance. "Oh, good they are going to give us plenty of time to get ready," said Sara.  
  
"How long does it take to get ready?" questioned Colin then jokingly added, "You take out your dress robe, throw it on, and BAM, you're done in five minutes tops."  
  
Sara rolled her eyes at him and headed into the great hall. The other girls followed Sara while the guys stood there a moment laughing.  
  
After dinner, everyone headed up to get ready for the dance. Most of the guys had Colin's philosophy and relaxed down in the common room while the girls rushed around in their rooms getting ready. Rebecca would have probably have sat down by the fire and read for a while before she got dressed, except she promised to do Lauren, Carolyn and Aisha's make up. She ended up doing not only their make up, but also the other first years' make up plus some other second years.  
  
When she finished with them and sent them to Jacquelyn to get their hair done, Rebecca took a shower. She took a pretty long one trying to get herself settled down. She was very excited about the dance and was dying to see Charlie in his dress robes.  
  
When she finally got out of the shower, she had a half an hour to do her hair and makeup and get dressed. Her hair had formed some loose curls from the steam in the shower so Rebecca took two hair combs and arranged her hair so that her hair was parted on the side and halfway up with some light bangs that curled tightly around her hair line. Rebecca then did her makeup using mostly neutral tones so that it was understated giving her a porcelain look.  
  
She now only had to get dressed and she could go down and meet Charlie. Rebecca picked up her scarlet dress robe and put it on. She then grabbed her dress heels out of her trunk. Once she had them on she took at moment to look at herself in the mirror.  
  
'I hope he likes how I look,' she thought as she turned and walked out of the room.  
  
Rebecca walked down the stairs slowly. She was excited and nervous all at the same time and felt like she could fall at any second because of it. Cathrine, Jacquelyn, and Sara had already gone downstairs and had probably made their way to the ball with Colin, James, and Greg.  
  
Charlie was the only one in the common room when Rebecca appeared on the stairs. Charlie's jaw dropped when he saw her. He always thought she was pretty before, but the way she looked right then was stunning.  
  
"Wow," he whispered as she walked closer. Rebecca smiled sweetly at him. His black dress robe looked great on him. It appeared from its style to be an older dress robe, but Rebecca loved its classic look.  
  
"Hey, handsome," she said when she reached him.  
  
"You look beautiful," Charlie said smiling at her. They stood there just smiling at each other for a while and then Charlie finally said, "Are you ready to go to the ball?" He offered Rebecca his arm as he said this. Rebecca smiled at him as she took his arm and they headed out of the room.  
  
As Charlie and Rebecca made their way down the stairs towards the Great Hall, they saw a sea of colors. They spotted Sara in her baby blue robe with Greg in his royal blue robe. Rebecca pointed out Cathrine in her silver-blue robe being lead by Colin in his royal purple robe. Jacquelyn in her light purple robe following close behind James in his emerald green robe were seen as Charlie and Rebecca made their way to the hall.  
  
The hallway was packed full of students so Charlie took Rebecca hand and lead her into the dance passing Ryan and Cassie who were both wearing Slytherin green dress robes. Ryan was shocked not only that Rebecca was Charlie's date and that they were holding hands, but at how beautiful she looked and how happy she seemed with Charlie. Cassie wasn't shocked. She actually infuriated Ryan when she said that Charlie and Rebecca looked cute together. Ryan kept his cool on the outside but hastily took Cassie's hand and followed Rebecca and Charlie into the Great Hall.  
  
There was a slow song starting when they all entered the room. Charlie lead Rebecca right onto the dance floor and faced her. He put his free arm on her waist as Rebecca put her free hand on his shoulder. They smiled and began to dance.  
  
Though the dance floor was crowded, the normally claustrophobic Rebecca felt as though they were the only ones on the floor when she looked into his eyes. In the middle of the song A.J. accidentally bumped into Rebecca causing her to fall into Charlie.  
  
Rebecca and Charlie were up right against each other now and neither of them were willing to back up. Charlie wrapped his arms around Rebecca's waist and they began to dance again.  
  
The song ended and Charlie was tapped on the shoulder. It was Ryan who was looking sort of ill.  
  
"Mind if I cut in for the next dance?" he asked looking at Rebecca first and then at Charlie.  
  
"Oh, sure. I'll just go find Cassie to dance with her. You guys have fun," Rebecca responded laughing at the end. Charlie joined into the laughter.  
  
Ryan eventually joined in, but not until he said, "I wanted to dance with you, Rebecca."  
  
Charlie really didn't want to give up the dance but Rebecca was being so lighthearted about it that he allowed Ryan to cut in.  
  
The next song started and Ryan and Rebecca started to dance. "Do you remember how we use to dance?" Ryan asked.  
  
Rebecca smiled at Ryan's question and replied, "How could I forget? I was taking ballroom dancing lessons and I used you as my partner when I needed to practice whether you liked it or not." Ryan smiled at her recollection and started to lead her in some of the steps she had taught him so long ago. Rebecca smiled, happy that he remembered so much.  
  
With in moments they were completely in sync with each other. Many people were looking at them just watching them danced. Rebecca noticed even though Ryan didn't seem to. He did notice that Rebecca was looking over at Charlie who was dancing with a fifth year girl from Hufflepuff.  
  
"So what's up with you and Charlie?" Ryan asked staring at Rebecca.  
  
"Oh, nothing really. . I really like him. . He is such a really great person, probably the greatest guy I have ever known. . It seems that I can always count on him," Rebecca admitted. She didn't mean to hurt Ryan's feeling with what she said, but she was speaking from her heart as she always had with her childhood friend.  
  
Ryan's face went a shade lighter when he heard what Rebecca said. "I don't think you should be getting any hopes up for Weasley. Being his friend may not be in your best interest, either," Ryan stated.  
  
They continued to dance, but Rebecca took as step away from him and said, "Yes, well dear 'cousin' thank you for your concern, but I'll make my own decisions about what is and what isn't in my best interest."  
  
Rebecca was livid at Ryan trying to tell her who she should be friends with. Ryan could tell she was annoyed by the way she looked at him, but he made the serious mistake of trying to guess why she was angry at him. "Cousin? You're mad about that, aren't you?"  
  
When the question came out, Rebecca decided she was fed up and it was time to tell him what she really thought about the cousin lie.  
  
"Actually, the truth is I am not," Rebecca soberly said looking him straight in the eyes. "Think about it Ryan. What in our history would tell you that I wouldn't say anything when it first started? Why would I wait this long to say something? I was never like that when we younger. I never go along with anything I don't want. I let you get away with it. I didn't care."  
  
When Rebecca finished, Ryan just stared at her. He was shocked, but he should have known. Everything added up to Rebecca not seeing him ever as anything more than her old childhood friend.  
  
"Just so, you know. Cassie was the first one to call you my cousin. I was going to tell her but she was persistent about it and it was just easier to go along with her at first," Ryan confessed.  
  
"I figured as much," Rebecca coldly responded as the song came to an end. Rebecca started to walk away when several students surrounded her and Ryan telling them how great their dancing was. Aisha was in the crowd. "Could you teach how to dance like that some time?"  
  
"Of course," Rebecca responded with a smile.  
  
There were several other Gryffindors with the same request that she agreed to as well. Rebecca made it back to Charlie as a new song started and they began to dance together. Cassie found Ryan and they began to dance.  
  
'I should have been honest from the get go. Cassie would have gotten over the threat. Rebecca may never get over this. . Of course, I hadn't gotten anything right with Rebecca this year so there may still be hope,' he thought as he danced away from Rebecca with Cassie in his arms. Cassie was nagging him about never dancing with her like he had with Rebecca. The song ended and Dumbledore walked on to the stage.  
  
"Good evening, everyone and welcome to the Valentine's Ball. It appears that everyone has arrived, so it is time for this evening's surprise," he announced. The students murmured about what the surprise could be. The rest of their group near the stage joined Rebecca and Charlie. The guys stood behind the girls waiting to hear what was going to happen.  
  
After a moment of suspense, Dumbledore said, "It is my pleasure to introduce Lauren Kimmel." Lauren walked nervously on the stage, but felt more confident when she saw Rebecca and everyone else smiling at her.  
  
As the music started back up, Rebecca heard Cathrine whisper, "Did Lauren come with anyone?"  
  
Jacquelyn had the answer, "Sean O'Donnell asked her."  
  
"Really? Where is he?" Sara asked looking around. Jacquelyn pointed out boy with short curly black hair standing next to Carolyn, Aisha, and their dates.  
  
"He's cute," slipped out of Rebecca's mouth.  
  
Everyone looked at Rebecca for a moment and then laughed.  
  
Rebecca was waiting for someone to poke fun at her when Lauren started to sing:  
  
The sunlight on my shoulders  
  
The smile on my face  
  
My secret weapon, my favorite place  
  
The reason my heart skips a beat  
  
The broom that sweeps me off my feet  
  
Lauren's voice was amazing no one would have guessed that she was only eleven after hearing her sing. Rebecca was memorized by Lauren. In fact, none of the group took their eyes off of Lauren while she was singing.  
  
A gentle inspiration  
  
My weary soul's salvation  
  
The half that makes me whole  
  
The gravity that grounds me  
  
The arms I want around me  
  
Never letting go  
  
Charlie put his arms around Rebecca and they started to sway to the music. The other guys followed suit putting their arms around their girlfriends and in a matter of moment they were all absorbed into the music.  
  
I've lived  
  
I've lived enough  
  
To know what is  
  
And what's not  
  
You are-you are  
  
Rebecca leaned back against Charlie as she just stared at Lauren still swaying to the music. Charlie tilted his head so that it rested against Rebecca's with a smile his face.  
  
All the love I wanna make  
  
Every breath I wanna take  
  
The rush that's running down my spine  
  
The touch that takes me every time  
  
An innocent seduction  
  
Oh I can't get enough and  
  
I can't help but let it show  
  
I lose all my composure  
  
I'm totally exposed and  
  
The reason I let go  
  
Is....  
  
I've lived  
  
I've lived enough  
  
I know what is  
  
And what's not  
  
You are-you are  
  
Sara looked over at Rebecca and Charlie and smiled. Greg looked down at Sara and saw she was looking away from the stage. He glanced in the direction she was looking at and saw how Rebecca and Charlie were content to be that close to each other. He turned back to watching Lauren with a big grin on his face. It looked like soon he and Sara could give up their vigilance against Colin and Cathrine trying to prank the two into dating.  
  
My every hope  
  
My every dream  
  
You are my everything  
  
I've lived yeah  
  
I've lived enough  
  
I know what is  
  
And what's not  
  
You are-you are-you are  
  
The sunlight on my shoulders  
  
The smile on my face  
  
My secret weapon  
  
My favorite place  
  
(Carolyn Dawn Johnson's You Are)  
  
When the song ended, all the students cheered really loud for Lauren. She smile, took a quick bow, and headed off the stage and walked up to the group.  
  
"That was amazing," Rebecca started.  
  
"Why didn't you tell us you could sing like that?" questioned James.  
  
"You sung beautiful, Lauren," added Charlie.  
  
Jacquelyn asked, "Are you going to sing anymore?"  
  
"I hope so," Cathrine said.  
  
Greg piped in, "Lauren that was the best surprise."  
  
"I don't think anyone could top it," Colin stated.  
  
Lauren smiled at all of them and when they all finished bombarding her with their praises, "Thanks guys. I'm glad you liked it. I am going to go find Sean now."  
  
With that she left still smiling. Lauren didn't walk away that far when she was surrounded by a lot of students praising her singing.  
  
A new song started and Lauren found Sean to dance with. Rebecca and Charlie danced together for that song.  
  
On the next dance, Bill cut in and danced with Rebecca. Greg asked to dance with Rebecca on another song a while later as did Colin after that.  
  
Rebecca was having a great time. She felt more and more like she was one of the gang with each dance. The guys acted like she was actually their friend and not a person they were being nice to because she talked to Charlie and was friends with their girlfriends.  
  
A.J. also danced with Rebecca so that he could apologize for bumping into her earlier that night and not saying sorry earlier. Rebecca laughed, accepted it, and changed the subject to how he liked the dance not wanting to admit that she was really glad that he had bumped into her.  
  
By the mid point of the dance, she had danced with all the guys from the group except James. Rebecca was about to start dancing with Charlie when she saw James whisper something into Jacquelyn's ear. Jacquelyn smiled and nodded.  
  
As a new song began, Jacquelyn walked over, tapped Rebecca on the shoulder, and said, "Mind if I cut in." Rebecca smiled and stepped away from Charlie to let Jacquelyn step in.  
  
As Charlie and Jacquelyn started to dance, James came up and stated, "Looks like we lost our partners."  
  
Rebecca started to giggle and said, "Yeah. . But it was about time that someone asked me to cut in."  
  
"You want to dance?" Rebecca nodded and turned towards James. They started to dance and Rebecca noticed something.  
  
She looked at James surprised and said, "You've taken dancing lessons, haven't you?"  
  
"Yeah, when I was younger, my parents made me. I find it's more useful now than it was then. Of course, young muggles usually don't dance like this so I guess that explains that."  
  
"You're parents are muggles?"  
  
"Yeah, I guess we never said anything about that to you. After a certain point it really doesn't matter to most."  
  
"Yeah, I guess if it really mattered I would have found out along time ago then."  
  
"Well just for your information, Charlie, Colin, Sara, and Jacquelyn are from pure blood wizard families. Cathrine is a mixture, but there isn't a drop of muggle blood in her. Greg is half and half, but grew up mostly around magic and doesn't have much experience with muggle things. Yours truly is the only muggle born in the lot." Rebecca laughed as James twirled around her so that she could see everyone else.  
  
As James led her through some fancy footsteps, her eyes wandered around. First she noticed Marcus dancing with Alannah. Then she saw Aisha dancing with Percy and Carolyn dancing with Sean. Greg was dancing with Cathrine while Sara was trying hard to dance with Colin, but he had her laughing so hard that she wasn't really succeeding.  
  
Rebecca smiled as she saw everyone until her eyes landed on Lauren. She was on the other side of the dance floor and dancing with Harvey. Lauren didn't look ecstatic about the situation, so Rebecca leaned in and whispered to James what she saw. James looked over and saw the same thing.  
  
Without saying another word, James and Rebecca started to dance over towards them inconspicuously. After a few dance steps Rebecca and James were close enough to Lauren for Rebecca get Lauren's attention and give her a look to ask Lauren if she was okay. Lauren looked at Rebecca and then moved her eyes in a different direction.  
  
Rebecca's eyes followed trying to see what Lauren saw. She found Russel, who was dancing with Kirsta, was staring at Harvey and Lauren. Russel glanced over at Rebecca and nodded at her to let her know he was keeping his eye on Harvey's action.  
  
Rebecca smiled to tell him thanks and leaned in to whisper to James that Russel had everything under control. Rebecca and James continued dancing close to Lauren so that if Harvey upset her they could get to her quickly while Russel dealt with the boy.  
  
When the song end, Sean walked over and led Lauren away. Alannah walked over to Harvey to dance with him as James headed back to Jacquelyn for the next dance. Rebecca started to walked away to find Charlie, but was stopped when someone grabbed her hand.  
  
She turned around to see that Russel had a hold of her. The next song started it and Russel asked, "May I have this dance?"  
  
It was a slow song and Rebecca really wanted to go find Charlie to dance with him, but Russel had been so protective of Lauren that she couldn't tell him no. She nodded and Russel kissed her hand. He pulled her in close. A lot closer than Rebecca wanted to be. She tried to pull away but he held her tight.  
  
Russel placed Rebecca's hand on his shoulder and put his hand on her waist and they started to dance. Rebecca looked around to see if she could see anyone that might help her out since there was no way that she could out muscle Russel herself. She spotted Charlie who was dancing with a girl with dirty blonde hair from Ravenclaw not that far away. Charlie was talking to the girl, but glanced up a couple of time to look at Rebecca.  
  
Russel saw Charlie looking at them and started to causally lead Rebecca away from him. After about a minute, they were far enough away from Charlie for Russel and he asked, "So, are you enjoying the ball?"  
  
Rebecca tried to push away from him again as she responded, "It was fine until about a minute ago."  
  
Her hands were on his chest still trying to push away from him when Russel used his strength to drawl her to him closer than before.  
  
"Oh, I suppose you would prefer to dance with that loser Weasley rather than a real man like me."  
  
Russel moved closer to the edge of the dance floor as Rebecca stared him straight in the eyes and defiantly stated, "Charlie is more of a man than you will ever be."  
  
Enraged, Russel said, "Is that what you think? Would he do this?"  
  
He pulled the struggling Rebecca off of the dance floor and through a door. Russel pinned Rebecca up against a wall just inside the door.  
  
"What are you doing?" Rebecca asked frantically eyeing the open door to her right.  
  
"I've been trying to get you into my arms all year," Russel replied.  
  
Rebecca was still struggling when she looked at him and said, "What?!"  
  
"I was the one that was supposed to catch you passed out, but no Weasley always had to be right there. I don't even know where he came from half of the times."  
  
Rebecca stopped struggling and couldn't move. She had remembered what Madame Pompfrey said when she left the infirmary in December. Her mind flashed back to the moments before each time she had passed out. She then realized something that she hadn't before. Each time she got a headache she had been near Russel and he had been muttering to himself every single time. It wasn't relevant to her then so she didn't think anything about it, but now it was.  
  
"You. You cursed me," stuttered Rebecca finally.  
  
Russel looked at her, touched her hair, and admitted, "Yeah, I did. . I decided I better stop using the spell when you fell down the stairs. I didn't need to send you into Weasley's arms any faster than you were already going. . Everything made him look better than he is. I thought maybe you would see him for what he really is a loser and it would be my turn then."  
  
He put his right hand up against the wall beside Rebecca's head. Russel began to lean in for a kiss, but Rebecca regained movement to duck and move left, away from Russel. He grabbed her arm and stopped her.  
  
"Let go of me," Rebecca shouted as she slapped him across the face. Russel dropped her arm, but started walking towards her causing her to back into a corner.  
  
"Come on Rebecca, it won't hurt, just give me a little kiss," he said as he walked right up against her.  
  
Rebecca was about to pass out from being trapped when Charlie grabbed Russel and threw him out of the way. Rebecca fell to her knees, but Charlie caught her before she completely collapsed onto the floor.  
  
Russel was furious and was about to hit Charlie from behind when Ryan stepped between the two and told Russel to get out of the room. Russel stared at Ryan for a moment and then left in a huff.  
  
Charlie wasn't paying to much attention, because he was more concerned about Rebecca.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked.  
  
"Yeah, I just need some air." Rebecca said.  
  
She was really dizzy and about fell again when she tried to walk. Charlie picked her up and carried her out of the room leaving Ryan in there by himself.  
  
Charlie walked along the edge of the dance and right out the door of the Great Hall. Lauren was up on the stage singing again so no one noticed him walking out with Rebecca in his arms.  
  
He walked out into the court yard and set Rebecca gently on a bench. Rebecca had some tears rolling down her face.  
  
"Are you okay, Rebecca?" Charlie asked as he sat down next to her and wipe away her tears. "What happened? One moment I saw you dancing with Flint, the next you disappeared, and then I found you in that room."  
  
Rebecca burst into tears as she thought of what happened. Charlie put his arms around her to comfort her.  
  
"I was going to find you for the next dance when Russel grabbed my hand. He had been watching out for Lauren so I decided it would be okay to dance with him," Rebecca sobbed as she rested her head on Charlie's shoulder. "He pulled me off the dance floor and into that room. He was trying to kiss me when you found us, but before that he told me that all those headaches I had in November and December were from him."  
  
"WHAT?!" exclaimed Charlie grasping her shoulders and pushing her up so that he could see her face.  
  
"He cursed me so that I would faint and he would catch me," sniffed Rebecca looking Charlie straight in the eyes.  
  
"I'll kill him!" shouted Charlie standing up from the bench.  
  
He was about to turn to walk in and beat up Russel when Rebecca grabbed his arm to stop him. She practically threw herself into his arm as she begged, "Please, just hold me right now. Don't leave me."  
  
Charlie could tell from the tone in her voice she was scared so he sat back down and wrapped his arms around her.  
  
Rebecca put her head on his shoulder and thought to herself, 'I can't believe that I thought Russel was a nice guy that I could become friends with. What would have happened if Charlie hadn't have been watching out for me and didn't show up when he did? Russel had been putting that spell on me. There is no telling what he would have done. Thank goodness, Charlie showed up. He is so great and I feel so safe around him. As long as I am around him, I'll be safe from Russel.'  
  
Charlie and Rebecca sat in silence for a while as Rebecca calmed down. It wasn't until Rebecca shivered that Charlie spoke again.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked softly taking a hold of her hand.  
  
Rebecca sat up a little straighter and quietly said, "Yeah, I think so."  
  
She was staring down at their hands as Charlie said, "Well do you want to stay out here, go back to the ball, or we can go up to the common room."  
  
He ran his fingers through Rebecca's hair as she thought for a moment. She really didn't want Charlie to stop holding her, but she was a little cold so staying outside wasn't going to be an option. Going back to the dance scared her to death since Russel may still be around.  
  
"Let's go back to the Common Room," Rebecca finally said.  
  
"Okay, let's go," Charlie said standing up. He took Rebecca by the hand and helped her up.  
  
They walked back into the castle hand in hand and were almost past the doors to the great hall and to the stairs when Russel appeared.  
  
He was glaring at Charlie and not paying attention to Rebecca, but she was still scared. She took a half of a step behind Charlie, squeezed his hand she was holding and grabbed his arm with her free hand. Charlie squeezed her hand back to let her know everything would be okay and stared back at Russel.  
  
"This isn't over," Russel fiercely said. Charlie didn't say anything but just stared back giving Russel a 'Are you sure you want to go there?' look. The two boys stared down each other until Ryan appeared behind Rebecca and Russel walked away.  
  
Charlie and Rebecca started to walk up the steps, when Ryan timidly asks, "Rebecca, are you okay?"  
  
Rebecca was still a slight bit upset with him from their conversation early that night and the fact that Russel was his friend didn't help anything, so she coldly answered, "Yes, I am fine, thanks to Charlie."  
  
She was frowning at Ryan as she said this, which shocked Ryan, because she usually didn't frown at anyone even when she was upset about something. Desperate to make a mends, Ryan eyed Charlie, then Rebecca, and asked, "Is there anything I can do for you?"  
  
Rebecca looked at him a moment and said, "Yes, there is one thing you can do for me."  
  
"What?!" Ryan asked as he took a step closer.  
  
"You can keep your CREEP of a friend away from me," Rebecca said raising her voice and then turned to continue up the stairs with Charlie.  
  
Ryan was shocked. He stood on the stairs by himself staring at where Rebecca was and replaying the events in his head until Dan came up to him to say Cassie was looking for him. Ryan turned and headed back into the dance for the last song.  
  
The ball ended and the students start to go back to their respective houses. When Greg, Sara, James, Jacquelyn, Colin, and Cathrine entered the portrait, they found Charlie and Rebecca sitting in the middle of the couch by the fire. They all thought something was up, because they noticed Rebecca disappear and saw Charlie leave. When neither returned by the end of the dance they knew something was up. The looks on Charlie and Rebecca's faces confirmed that intuition.  
  
The girls walked over and sat by Rebecca and started to talk to her about the events of the nights. The guys walked over to Charlie to get information from him. When Rebecca finished telling a short version of the events of the night, the girls looked horrified.  
  
Sara finally said, "You are so lucky Charlie found you when he did."  
  
"Yeah, who knows what Russel would have done especially since he didn't have any problems casting that spell on you. Even I wouldn't go that far even for a good prank," added Cathrine.  
  
Jacquelyn piped in, "Good thing Charlie was watching."  
  
"Yeah, I am really lucky he came to my rescue," Rebecca said turning to look at Charlie who was talking to the guys. "He is a really great guy."  
  
As she whispered the last statement, Rebecca realized how great Charlie treated her and that she really did like him a lot. 'I'll never be able to tell him how great he is,' she thought turning back towards the girls.  
  
The girls decided to go up stairs and got to bed, though Sara sat on Rebecca's bed talking about everything that happened and what was running through Rebecca's head. The fact that Russel been the person Rebecca talked to over Christmas about her slight problem and had really helped her out came up. Rebecca couldn't help but think that he had been up to something even then and Sara agreed with her.  
  
As the two girls talked about what happened at the ball more in depth upstairs, the guys were talking about the same thing.  
  
"I don't want Rebecca to go through anything like that again," Charlie flat out stated when he finished telling the guys the story.  
  
Greg shook his head, "Either do I."  
  
"Did he really say 'This isn't over' to you?" asked James seriously.  
  
"Yeah I think he was mad that I threw him off of Rebecca. Heck he probably still is," Charlie responded.  
  
"He isn't stupid enough to think he could fight you. He'll probably try to curse you next and Rebecca will have to catch you every time she turns around," Colin said trying to be serious, but being the class clown he couldn't keep a straight face.  
  
The other guys smiled at him as Charlie said, "Well I guess we will just have to keep our eyes open for Russel." Greg, James, and Colin nodded their heads in agreement and went up to bed.  
  
That night, Rebecca tried to sleep but found herself still think of everything that happened. The thought of waking Sara up to talk some more came to Rebecca's head, but she didn't want Sara to be mad at her for doing it since it was really late. Finally she got up and walked down to the common room with some paper, ink, and a quill.  
  
She sat down and wrote Stacy a letter telling her of everything that happened that night. She included every detail in hopes that she would get it out of her head and be able to sleep. When she finished, Rebecca added a post script to tell Stacy that she just need to get everything out, she was really okay, and she had people that would watch out for her at Hogwarts.  
  
Writing the letter did not seem to help every much. Rebecca still saw everything when she closed her eyes. Eventually her tiredness over came her and Rebecca drifted off to a restless sleep.  
  
The next morning Rebecca awoke dreading anything that would make her have to walk out of the portrait. She had enough homework that she could stay in Gryffindor all day, but she need to eat and had to go downstairs for that.  
  
Rebecca got dressed and walked down to the common room. Charlie and the rest of the group were waiting for Rebecca when she walked down the steps. Rebecca gave out a sigh of relief at the sight of everyone.  
  
Without a word everyone started heading towards the great hall. It seemed that everyone had the same idea that morning. The guys surrounded Rebecca and kept their eyes open for Russel while Rebecca purposely walked beside Charlie so that if anything happened she would be protected, since Russel had already proven that he was physically stronger than her.  
  
When they finally made it to the Gryffindor table, they sat so that Rebecca was in the middle of the group. Everyone felt more comfortable sitting there in front of the teacher's and so their conversation drifted to more interesting and funny topics. It didn't take long before Colin had them laughing so hard they were crying.  
  
Ryan had walked up to talk to Rebecca, but the whole group had their heads down and were laughing so loud that no one heard him say anything. He stood by them for a while waiting for someone to look at him. Every once in a while some one's head might move in his direction, but always stop before that person looked directly at him.  
  
Hans walked up to get Ryan to sit down and get breakfast, but failed at his mission. Cassie finally walked into the Great Hall and walked over to Ryan. She smiled at the Gryffindors and took Ryan's hand and led him to the Slytherin table.  
  
He sat down and stared at Rebecca. She was laughing so hard that he could tell that her sides were starting to hurt. 'What is up with that group? Last night I thought Rebecca would never smile again and here she is laughing like nothing happened at all,' Ryan thought to himself.  
  
When Rebecca and the rest of the group got up from breakfast, Ryan got up to intercept her at the door so he could talk to her. He got to the door and was about to get Rebecca's attention when Cathrine said something to Rebecca. Cathrine was on the opposite side of Rebecca so Rebecca turned her head away from Ryan and walked out the door not knowing he was even there. Ryan watched as the group walked up the stairs still laughing and carrying on.  
  
When the Gryffindors entered the common room, they were still laughing. Rebecca felt more relaxed than she did when she first got up. It wasn't until she saw Bill studying at one of the tables that she remembered all the homework she had to do. Charlie seemed to have the same thought and he said, "I guess it is time to do some homework."  
  
Rebecca nodded and headed to get her books. She came back to the common room and found a free seat next to Charlie. He looked up from his books and asked, "What are you going to study?"  
  
Rebecca looked at her stack of books and said, "I don't know. You know how much work we are supposed to do and I always start with my favorite subjects and barely touch anything else."  
  
"It's the same with me. Its like I can't focus on it if I don't like the subject."  
  
"Yeah. What I need is someone to make me focus on the ones I don't like."  
  
"Hey, that's an idea."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Studying with someone to get focused on our weak subjects. Do you want to try to study with me and see if we can get each other to study the subjects we usually leave behind?"  
  
"Um, sure, what is the worse thing that could happen?" Rebecca said with a smile.  
  
They started to work with each other only taking breaks for lunch and dinner where they laughed as much as they had in breakfast and then returning to studying. Their strategy of studying worked out better than either of them imagined. Rebecca helped Charlie in Potions and Defense against the dark arts and Charlie helped her in Care of Magical Beasts and Charms. Other than Herbology and History, Rebecca and Charlie didn't really need each other for the rest of the subjects, but neither of them let the other one know that. Their biggest surprise came when they had finished with the last subject they had to study.  
  
"Wow. I never thought I would get Herbology," Rebecca said placing the book on her other books and looked at them like she had conquered a mountain.  
  
"Me, too," Charlie stated amazed at all he understood now. He looked at Rebecca and asked, "Do you think we could do this again? I really think we could help each other out in class."  
  
Rebecca thought for a moment, turned towards Charlie, and said, "That's a good idea."  
  
They exchanged smiles and then got up from the table. They gathered up their books, said good night, and headed up to bed. Rebecca fell asleep happy that Charlie asked her to be his study partner.  
  
The next morning had many interesting surprises to it. Ryan got the first one when he walked to potions early and didn't find Rebecca there. They had a difficult potion to do that day and he thought that she would be down in the room trying to get prepared for it. He took his seat and eventually more and more students came in.  
  
Hans, Dan, and Sam came in with Cassie who immediately headed to see why Ryan had missed breakfast. Russel showed up a little later and took his usual seat. He looked around and noticed there was a void of students where Rebecca usually sat. Russel hadn't talked to Ryan very much since the ball and really didn't want to until he talked to Rebecca first.  
  
He wouldn't get his chance before classes though, because Rebecca didn't show up until shortly before the class was about to start. She walked in talking with Charlie and his gang. After they took their seats, Snape walked in and started giving instructions.  
  
"Get with a partner and start working on the rainbow potion," Russel and Ryan both tried to get Rebecca's attention but she was already talking to Charlie about the rainbow potion and didn't notice them. Cassie of course got Ryan as a partner and Russel was left with Sam.  
  
Snape had not overstated when he said that it was a difficult potion they were learning. He wouldn't tell them exactly what the potion did at first, but he said it was important for them to learn how to make it first and then learn what it was for.  
  
Rebecca, who was by far the best student in the class, was just as nervous about it as everyone else. She and Charlie worked careful and following all the instruction even the ones that seemed insignificant.  
  
At the end of the period when it was time to test the potion. If the potions were done correctly, every drop put on a piece of paper would change a different distinct color.  
  
Practical everyone's potion changed colors at first, but the next drop did not come as distinct as the first. Some people had each drop change color but the order the colors appeared did not please Snape.  
  
Finally, he walked over to Rebecca and Charlie's cauldron and started to test the potion. One drop produced a brilliant red color. The drop put on top of that made it change into an orange color and the next dropped faded into a yellow. Snapes started to smile and adding the drops quicker. Green, Blue, and Violet appeared from the subsequent drops.  
  
Snape smiled at Rebecca and said, "Congratulations, this is the best rainbow potion that I have seen out of fifth years. 10-points a piece to Gryffindor."  
  
He walked away leaving the two in shock as he explained that a properly prepared potion would make its drinker into a chameleon changing into what ever color is needed to blend into the surroundings.  
  
Charlie turned to Rebecca and they smiled at each other. The whole class was looking at them in disbelief not paying any attention to what the professor was telling them. Rebecca getting points from Snape wasn't a new thing, but Charlie Weasley getting points was amazing.  
  
At the end of the period, everyone gathered up their stuff and walked out the door. Ryan saw this as another opportunity to try to talk to Rebecca. He almost had her attention, but Carolyn came running up to Rebecca very upset.  
  
"What's the matter?" Rebecca asked Carolyn as Charlie and Greg came walking up behind Rebecca to see what was amidst.  
  
"Lauren needs help," Carolyn said gasping for air.  
  
"Where is she?" asked Charlie and Greg in unison.  
  
"I'll show you." Carolyn ran off closely followed by Rebecca, Charlie, and Greg. They turned the corner close to the great hall and found Lauren standing in the middle of Harvey, Alannah, Marcus, and some other Slytherin first years.  
  
Luckily, when Charlie, Greg, and Rebecca appeared, the group disbursed. Lauren looked over relieved to see them.  
  
"I don't know what happened," she started to say obviously flustered by what happened. "One moment I was walking with Sean and the next I know Alannah was trying to pick a fight with me and then the guys surrounded me."  
  
"Where's Sean at?" Rebecca asked looking around concerned that something bad may have happened to him. Just then Sean ran from around the corner with Bill following.  
  
"Hey," Bill said looking at the other Gryffindors.  
  
Sean walked over to Lauren and said, "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you but I couldn't fight all those guys at once."  
  
"I know. At least you went to find someone to help," Lauren responded taking his hand. They walked off together, leaving Rebecca and the guys in the hall.  
  
"Well, it's a good thing you guys showed up when you did," Bill finally said.  
  
"I wonder why they surrounded her?" Rebecca asked watching Lauren walk away.  
  
"Who know? We better get to class," Charlie said taking her arm and leading her to Herbology.  
  
As they walked to class James, Jacquelyn, Colin, Cathrine, and Sara joined them and asked where they disappeared. What happened to Lauren was the talk of the next class until Professor Sprout announced a pop quiz. Everyone groaned as she started to ask question.  
  
At the end the class went over the answers. While walking out to go to lunch, Rebecca and Charlie compared what they had gotten on the quiz. To each of their surprise, they both got a perfect score. Rebecca was so excited that she threw her arms around Charlie and gave him a huge hug in the middle of the hall. They then headed off to lunch happy and contented that their studying paid off.  
  
During lunch the whole school seemed to be buzzing about what happened to Lauren and Sean. Details came out that Harvey had shoved Sean into a wall and that Harvey's goons had a stare down with Sean before he went to get Bill. Lauren said that Harvey keep calling her 'songbird' and asking her to sing, which he had started doing when they had danced together at the call. Charlie and Rebecca exchanged puzzled looks over the table at each new detail.  
  
Rebecca finally asked what she had wanted to know. "Lauren, why were you dancing with Harvey that night?"  
  
"I don't know. I saw when Sean went to get punch for us after I had sung, Harvey whisper something to Sean, but I don't know what it was. Harvey then came up and tapped Sean on the shoulder and Sean just stepped aside without saying a word. Before I could refuse he started dancing me away from Sean. When I saw Russel, I figured I was safe so I could handle dancing with him, but know I really wished I hadn't evened tried," Lauren responded looking at Rebecca.  
  
Rebecca shook her head and turned back to her food. She hadn't told Lauren what had happened the night of the ball and didn't know whether she should. She remained quiet the rest of lunch as did the rest of the group. They all seemed to be thinking the same thing. Russel had been protective of Lauren because he wanted to be close to Rebecca, but would he be now or was it all an act for Rebecca. If it was, then maybe Lauren should know what occurred between Rebecca and Russel so that she didn't run to him for help.  
  
Sara finally commented as they all got up to go to class, "It seems that the Slytherin students are out of control." Everyone nodded their head in agreement and walked out of the Great Hall.  
  
The afternoon classes found Charlie and Rebecca having more success from their studying. By the end of the day they had gotten a few more points for Gryffindor.  
  
Of course, after the talk about Lauren's situation cooled down, the points given to them by Snape became the talk of dinner that night at the Gryffindor table. Rebecca and Charlie sat very quiet giving each other smiles as the others along the table talked about the miracle.  
  
Bill sat next to Charlie and asked, "So is it true? Did my brother actually get Snape give him points instead of getting them taken away?"  
  
Charlie smiled and nodded his head. Bill laughed as he slapped Charlie on the back, told him congratulations, and then started to eat.  
  
Rebecca was sitting on the other side of the table and was smiling at Charlie and Bill's brotherly interplay when she Ryan caught her eye. He was staring at her. She stared back and continued to eat. Ryan subtle gestured to let her know that he wanted to talk to her when she and the rest of the group were done.  
  
At the end of dinner Rebecca got up and met Ryan outside of the Great Hall. Charlie and his friends started to walk up the stairs to go back to Gryffindor Tower. Ryan walked up to Rebecca timidly smiling.  
  
"Yes?" Rebecca asked him as he stopped next to her.  
  
"I have been trying to talk to you for two day," He started. Rebecca was surprised she had no clue he had even been around her other than in usual classes.  
  
"Really?! About what?" she asked with a tone in her voice that let Ryan know that she hadn't purposely been avoiding him.  
  
"About the dance. . I just wanted to say how sorry I was about what happened."  
  
Rebecca only heard part of what he said, because Russel walked up to her staring. Rebecca and Russel locked eyes and she said with a raised voice, "I told you to keep that CREEP away from me!"  
  
She turned around and ran up the stairs to catch up with the group. Russel tried to grab her hand as she turned to stop her from leaving, but Rebecca slipped her hand out of his grip and didn't look back.  
  
Rebecca headed straight up to her room and grabbed her books. She headed back down to common room to study. Charlie joined her at the table and looked at her.  
  
"Everything okay?" he finally asked.  
  
Rebecca looked up from her books at him and said, "Yeah, I just wish Russel would leave me alone."  
  
"WHAT?!"  
  
'I am going to beat that guy up. He needs to leave her alone!' Charlie thought as Rebecca explained, "Ryan wanted to talk to me and Russel showed up. I don't know what he is going to do and so I can't consciously make myself stand there while he stares at me. His reasoning makes no sense and."  
  
She went on for a few minutes on everything she was feeling. When Rebecca finally finished her ranting on Russel being around, she looked at him, put her hand on top of his hand that was resting on the table, and said, "Sorry I just need to get it all out."  
  
"That's okay. I'm just glad that you feel comfortable talking to me about it," Charlie quietly said tucking a stand of hair behind her ear, then placing his hand back on top of Rebecca's, and giving it a little comforting squeeze.  
  
Rebecca smiled and looked back at her books thinking, 'I am so lucky he is my friend.'  
  
"You ready to study?" Charlie asked. Rebecca shook her head yes and they started what would become their routine.  
  
Every night, they studied the subjects they needed to and some that they didn't. The next day they would see their rewards from their hard work and sometimes getting a few surprises. The teachers were impressed about their performance. Snape's was surprised when Charlie raised his hand and answered a question correctly before Rebecca did.  
  
Both Charlie and Rebecca were ecstatic by their progress in their weak subjects and each secretly glad that they were getting to know each other better than they ever imagined. Rebecca was also happy, because she has been able to keep herself distracted enough to ignore Russel situation and to not mind Ryan hadn't tried to talk to her since the after dinner confrontation, which would have probably devastated her when they were younger. 


	10. The Letters

As the weeks went by Rebecca became more comfortable with going places by herself. Other than in class and if she looked over at the Slytherin table, she didn't see Russel or Ryan around so she stopped feeling paranoia about something happening to her if she didn't keep a constant vigilance.  
  
Her new confidence turned into a blessing, because soon March came and the snow melted. This meant that quidditch practice started by order of Captain Wood, giving Charlie less time to study. Rebecca found herself spending a lot of her time doing prep work so that they could study more efficiently than they had been before.  
  
It was a good system and worked until one Sunday at breakfast when Rebecca received a letter. She had gotten down to the Great Hall before the rest of the group, because she woke up really early and had been in the library researching, so she was able to read the letter without any interruptions.  
  
The letter was from the lawyer who had her parent's will. It didn't say much other than she was going to be going to the office in April to talk to them. The vagueness of the message left Rebecca's mind racing to what she needed to talk to them about. After a moment, she thought of the letter she received before Christmas.  
  
'Why do I have to go in April? Shouldn't the meeting be after school is done? They must have made a mistake in the Christmas letter and have to tell me in person. What if they say that they were never supposed to send it in the first place? What if I am actually changing schools again and it is either Durmstang or Beauxbaton? Maybe they are trying to give me more time to say good bye to everyone this time,' she thought to herself as Charlie and the rest of the gang came to sit down to eat.  
  
As conversation flowed around her, Rebecca stared off into space not even aware that anyone was around her. It wasn't until Charlie asked her to pass the salt that she realized everyone was there.  
  
"Hey were you sleeping?" Charlie joked.  
  
"Hmm." Rebecca looked at him with a puzzled face.  
  
"Could you pass the salt, please?"  
  
"Oh yeah," Rebecca said as she passed the salt to him and started to eat.  
  
Charlie could tell something was bugging her so he leaned over and whispered, "You okay?"  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca whispered back as she got up from the table and walked out the room.  
  
"What's going on? Did you do something to upset her?" Greg whispered over to Charlie with a protective tone in his voice.  
  
"No, I haven't done anything. We studied together last night and nothing happened out of the ordinary. Today the worst thing I have done is asking her if she was sleeping, but she normally would get a good laugh out of a line like that." Charlie defensively whispered back.  
  
"You guys did notice that she had a letter in her and when we got her and she took it when she left, didn't you?" Sara asked pointing out something that both guys obviously missed.  
  
"I wonder what a letter could say to get her so upset." Greg pondered.  
  
Charlie looked out the door and thought for a moment. He finally said, "I am sure she'll get herself calmed down in a bit."  
  
Charlie was wrong in his assumption. Rebecca was spaced out all day; luckily there were no classes so none of the teachers could call on her. At lunch she didn't say one word and the same was true at dinner. Charlie finally decided it was time to find out what was going on to put Rebecca in this state of mind.  
  
"Hey Rebecca where you going?" he asked as they walked out of the Great Hall.  
  
"Huh, oh, um, I am going to the library," Rebecca hesitantly responded, because she wasn't consciously aware of where she was headed.  
  
"What happened?" Charlie bluntly asked her.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"You have been spaced out all day you have been. You barely said a single word at one time. Something has you really upset. Please, tell me what it is?" Rebecca looked at him and then at her shoes.  
  
"I don't want to talk about it," she said shortly and started to walk away.  
  
"Who sent you the letter you got this morning?" Charlie called after her. This stopped Rebecca dead in her tracks. She turned and stared at him as he asked, "That is what has got you upset, right?"  
  
"How did you."  
  
"Becca you were reading it when we all came down to breakfast and when you walked out it was still in your hand."  
  
There was a pause and Rebecca finally admitted, "It was from the lawyer that my parents had."  
  
"And?"  
  
"It was vague. Barely told me anything at all, for all I know I could be getting shipped out to a new school at the end of the year."  
  
"But, you were told that you have a say on whether you stayed or not in the other letter."  
  
"I know, but that doesn't mean they didn't make a mistake. Why else would they make me come in to the office in April?"  
  
"You don't know that for sure. It could be something completely different."  
  
"You don't' know that for sure, either. I do know that I am tired of becoming attached to people and getting told that I have to give them up without having a say."  
  
"Okay, time out. You're still jumping the gun, Rebecca. You need to calm down and not worry."  
  
"Look at my track record, Charlie. Everything that has ever happened to me says that it is going to be something to bad. I need to get myself prepared."  
  
"Pushing people away is your way of getting ready?"  
  
"I am not pushing people away."  
  
"Then why didn't you talk to someone about what was upsetting you."  
  
'He's right I am shutting people out. What is wrong with me? I really don't want to do that,' Rebecca admitted to herself, but all she could say was, "Don't you have a special practice to go to?"  
  
Charlie stared at her for a moment not believing she said that of all things. Finally he asked, "Are we still going to study together later?"  
  
Rebecca hesitantly shook her head yes. Though Charlie could see that she had been reluctant in saying yes, he had to get that practice and didn't have time to continue talking to Rebecca right then.  
  
He walked away muttering, "What a day for Aaron to call for a special practice."  
  
Rebecca went to the library as she said she was when Charlie left. She didn't get anything done though her mind kept wandering to the letter she received and her conversation with Charlie.  
  
About a half an hour had passed, when Russel walked up to her, but Rebecca was too distracted to even notice.  
  
"Getting anything done?" he asked looking at the book she hadn't even opened.  
  
"No, guess I should go back to the common room," she said in a monotone voice not even looking who was talking to her as she got up from the table. Russel just watched her walk out wondering what was going on with her. She was technically civil towards him which he thought would never happen again, but there was something else that got her upset which made him curious on what had happened.  
  
Up in the common room Rebecca didn't have any better luck studying. Cathrine tried to tell her about a new spell she learned and how it would be great for a prank, but Rebecca only weakly smiled at her even when Cathrine said something really funny that Rebecca would have normally laughed at.  
  
Sara finally walked over to Rebecca when Aisha left exasperated by Rebecca's lack of response when she asked for some help on the homework.  
  
"Aisha, I think James might be able to help you," Sara told her as they passed. "Also ask James if he can take over the dance lessons for tonight, okay?"  
  
Aisha smiled at her and headed towards James to ask about her homework and the ballroom dancing lesson, which had become a Sunday event in the Gryffindor house since the ball.  
  
Sara took a seat next to Rebecca and asked, "Is everything okay?" Rebecca looked over her and thought for a moment.  
  
"Yeah, I just can't get myself to study right now," she finally said.  
  
"Do you want to talk about what is bothering you?"  
  
"No not right now. Thank you though."  
  
"Okay well you know where to find me if you do," Sara said as she got up.  
  
Charlie walked in to the room from practice just in time to see Sara leaving Rebecca, so he walked over to Sara to find out whether Rebecca told her anything.  
  
"Did she tell you anything?" he eagerly whispered to Sara.  
  
"No she didn't want to talk about it. Don't worry she'll tell us eventually. Just give her time," Sara reassured him patting his arm as she walked away.  
  
Charlie nodded and left to change. He came back to the common room to find Rebecca staring out the window she was sitting in front of. After setting his books down, he pulled up a chair and took a seat.  
  
Charlie sat there for five minutes before Rebecca realized that he was there.  
  
"Hey," she softly said knowing that she was busted. She started to nervously flip through her book so that she didn't have to look directly into Charlie's eyes.  
  
"Rebecca, I think we really need to talk about what is upsetting you so much," Charlie said with a concern tone in his voice.  
  
Rebecca stopped looking at the book and looked at him as her mind raced, 'He hasn't called me that since this past fall. He must be really worried about me. Why can't I stop defensive side of me? If I knew I was coming back I would be able to tell him so much more. Why am I building these walls around me?'  
  
Finally she defensively answered, "There isn't much to say. I got the letter which tells me relatively nothing. I don't have a good feeling about it and that's what go me upset. Plain and simple."  
  
"I think there is more to it than that."  
  
"What makes you say that?"  
  
"You aren't telling anyone anything about it other than it was vague. You're shutting people out of your life."  
  
"I am not shutting people out; I am just trying to get things straight in my head."  
  
"You didn't tell Sara anything when she talked to you and you usually tell her everything even when things are confusing to you."  
  
Rebecca didn't say anything to this, because she knew Charlie was right, but didn't wasn't ready to admit it yet. Charlie fell silent wondering what was going through Rebecca's head.  
  
They just sat there and stared at each other until Bill showed up and asked, "Do you guys need help with something for class?"  
  
"Uh, no, we just need to look over the potion we are going to be making tomorrow. We got the rest of our homework done yesterday," Charlie responded still looking at Rebecca.  
  
"Okay, well if you need any help just let me know," Bill said looking curiously at the two and then walking away.  
  
"We better get started," Rebecca finally said. Charlie shook his head yes and flipped open his book.  
  
They got done in record time, partly because they didn't have the usual interplay of studying and jokes or personal stories that happened when they studied together. Charlie tried a couple of play-on-words comments but could only get a weak smile from Rebecca. After they were done, Rebecca headed straight to bed without a word to another person.  
  
Charlie sat for a while by himself just thinking, 'I hope she is feeling better about this situation tomorrow. I wish that I could alleviate her . her . her what? I don't even know what to call it. She's just tired of being bounced around. That's what it is really. I can't believe she thinks that she will have to leave here. . I really hope she doesn't. I don't know whether I would like to go through a year without her here now that she's been here.'  
  
"Hey, mate, you okay?" Charlie looked up to see Greg sitting down next to him.  
  
"Yeah, I was just thinking to myself about stuff."  
  
"Rebecca and the letter she got today?"  
  
"Yeah, she is just paranoid about its vagueness. I wish I knew how to calm her down."  
  
"She'll be fine. I am sure that everything will be better tomorrow."  
  
Charlie shook his head in agreement but didn't know whether it would be the case.  
  
The next day wasn't starting any better. Rebecca hadn't slept very well and needless to say wasn't in a very talkative mood at breakfast. Charlie was worried but didn't know how to get Rebecca to talk without getting her agitated or causing her to become more isolated. He had it figure that they would be partners in potions like they always were.  
  
'We can talk then. I'll just make sure not to mention the letter until after she returns to her old self.' Charlie thought as they got up to got to class.  
  
In potions, Snape decided that he wanted the class to have different partners and that he was going to assign them. Greg and Cassie were paired together. Cathrine and Hans were partners as were Jacquelyn and Sam. Snape had just put Ryan with Sara when he turned to Rebecca and said, "Miss Carter you will be partnered with Mr. Flint."  
  
"For how long?" Rebecca blurted out in a panic. The whole class gasped wondering what Snape was going to do.  
  
"For the class period," Snape responded eyeing her trying to decide whether she was trying to be cheeky or not.  
  
In the end he decided that she wasn't since she stopped after the first question and she was normally his best pupil. He continued pairing the class making each partnership being made up of one guy and one girl from different houses. When he finished, he said, "Okay, girls move to the cauldron that is near you partner."  
  
Rebecca softly groaned so that Snape wouldn't hear her and gathered up her stuff. Russel had a big smile on his face as she approached him. She tried not to make eye contact as she set her stuff down.  
  
"So much for keeping the creep away," he said jokingly to her as they started the potion.  
  
"Oh shut up," Rebecca harshly responded, which wiped the smile right off of Russel's face.  
  
After a few minutes Russel tried again. "So, what is going on with you? We haven't talked since."  
  
Rebecca cut him off as she coldly said, "Let's just get this done."  
  
They continued to work. Rebecca spoke as little as possible. Everything seemed to be going tolerable until Rebecca looked over to see Russel dropped something shiny in to the cauldron.  
  
"No, don't," screamed Rebecca, but it was too late.  
  
Rebecca had pushed Russel out of the way as the potion exploded. Unfortunately she didn't have time to duck herself. The force of the blast sent Rebecca flying through the air and hit the wall on the opposite side of the room.  
  
Charlie ran over to Rebecca to help her up. She was coughing from the fumes that she had inhaled by the explosion so Charlie just kept his arms around her.  
  
Snape rushed over to check on her also. As he moved towards her, Snape looked at the rest of the class to survey the damage. The explosion had moved other students, but Rebecca had absorbed the brunt of it so most only moved an inch or two.  
  
After checking out Rebecca, Snape turned towards Charlie and said, "Mr. Weasley, please take her to Madame Pomfrey."  
  
As Charlie escorted Rebecca out the door, Snape turned and started to scold Russel for his clumsiness.  
  
Outside of the door Rebecca, who was still coughing, stumbled trying to walk. Charlie scooped her up and carried her into the hospital wing. As he set her on a cot, Madame Pomfrey rushed over to have a look at Rebecca.  
  
It was discovered that Rebecca was fighting a sinus infection while Madame Pomfrey did some test on her to see what the full effect of the blast and hitting the wall was. After getting completely checked out, Madame Pomfrey left to get something to help Rebecca if she got sore from the impact of the wall.  
  
Charlie turned towards Rebecca after Madame Pompfrey was out to the room and asked, "Do you think he did it on purpose?"  
  
Rebecca could see that he was being dead serious about Russel's actions. "Honestly, I don't think so, but I really don't know. I would have never guessed he would have put a spell on me, either. . Personally, I would like to know why I pushed him out of the way. It isn't like the big thug couldn't have taken it. He at least wouldn't have gone flying across room," said Rebecca and then she thought to herself, 'Does this mean something? I really hope it doesn't.'  
  
Charlie could tell Rebecca was worried about what her actions meant so he tried to calm her down by saying, "Let's not talk about it right now. You need to rest."  
  
"Fine by me," Rebecca shortly answered still having the events runs through her head.  
  
They both sat there for a moment in silence. Rebecca's thoughts turned from what Russel did to cause the accident to Charlie's actions after the explosion causing Rebecca to finally say, "Uh, Charlie, about yesterday, I am really sorry about everything. You were right I was shutting people out of my life. I got scared after that letter. . Being sick and not knowing that I was, may have added to my fear making it hard for me to listen to reason."  
  
"I know. . You do know that you don't have to be scared by yourself, if you just let some one know. We're all here for you."  
  
"Yeah, I know, but it hard for me to remember that I have friends willing to help me when I am scared. I am so use to doing things for myself that I just forget, as bad as that may sounds. Even when Wadsworth was alive, I had to deal with lot of different things by myself. Some times it is better if I just get some space to sort things out. . Maybe that is why it is best if I don't get to close to anyone in particular."  
  
Rebecca really muttered the last comment, but Charlie took the clue and said, "Well if it is space you need than we all can give you space. . I just want to say one thing. I think we should continue studying together so that you're not tempted completely isolate yourself."  
  
Rebecca nodded in agreement glad that Charlie said it, because she truly wished she hadn't said the last thing out loud. She really wanted to stay friends with Charlie and had been afraid that what she said might drive him away. Unfortunately, she had felt that she had to let him know that she didn't want them to be anything more than friends until she was certain she was coming back to school.  
  
Madame Pompfrey came back with medicine and sent the two back to classes. As they silently walked back to get their books from the potions classroom and then head to Herbology, Rebecca continued to think about what she had said. 'He still wants to study together. Everything will be fine. Just relax, what you said will be forgotten. It will get back to the way it use to be, just take your cues from Charlie. His actions will let him know whether he is hurt by what you said,' she told herself as she followed Charlie into the Herbology greenhouse.  
  
Rebecca stiffened up during Herbology and was glad when it was lunch time and she could take the medicine. At lunch the whole Gryffindor table was talking about the events in the fifth year's potion class. A.J. and Bill asked if Rebecca was okay, while Lauren and Aisha commented that it would be cool to fly through the air without a broom.  
  
"It isn't that cool hitting a wall because of it," Rebecca said to them.  
  
Ryan came over to see how Rebecca was doing, but when Cassie came over and started being a drama queen and mentioned how upset Russel was, he quickly escorted her away seeing that Rebecca was getting annoyed by it. He was right Rebecca was perturbed about Cassie's drama, but it did not agitate her as much as she was about the mention of Russel.  
  
'Stupid Slytherin never knows when to leave people alone. . I bet I am getting stared at so that he might get my attention.' Rebecca looked over at the Slytherin table just to check if Russel was indeed staring at her, but there was no Russel to be found.  
  
Over the next couple of days, she noticed that other than class she hadn't seen Russel at all. Rebecca stopped looking when she stopped feeling sore since she didn't have a constant reminder of what happened.  
  
Since she felt better, Rebecca started going back to the library to do prep work so she and Charlie could study easily when he was done with practice.  
  
Studying with Charlie had changed since they talked in the hospital wing. The end results seemed to be the same but Charlie and Rebecca acted different towards each other. They would smile at each other, but laughing was at a minimal and they both acted like they were afraid to touch the other one for some reason unbeknownst anyone watching them.  
  
Sara didn't get a chance to talk to Rebecca about it because Rebecca was spending a lot of time in the library buried in books and seemed too busy to really talk about anything about homework. Eventually, Rebecca started to act like her old self and acting more friendly towards Charlie much to the relief of Charlie and everyone else in the group.  
  
But then one morning she received another letter.  
  
This letter wasn't from the lawyer though it was from Russel. Rebecca opened the letter under the table and began to read it.  
  
My Dearest Rebecca,  
  
Words can not say how sorry I am for all the pain I caused you this year. Your beauty inside and out has blinded me from reason. When I first met you, I thought you were Ryan's girlfriend, which would have broken my heart for I was in love with you at first sight. The revelation that you were in fact his cousin filled me with joy. I tried to go and find you after you left the compartment in the train when I found out, but Cassie insisted that I go talk to Kirsta (who is not my girlfriend contrary to popular belief). Cassie's demanding control made it so that I couldn't share the joy I felt with you. And this joy was short lived because my dreams of getting to know you better were dashed when you were sorted into Gryffindor. My chances were limited to classroom and hallway interaction.  
  
I admired you from a far at first, amazed by your intellect and ability to talk to everyone while we were in class together. Your friendliness when I came up to talk to you while you were talking to Ryan blew me way. When you would walk away, I asked Ryan to tell me more about you. As Ryan told me of your history, I realized that you need a guy in your life that would be there for you, but you were too independent. There were only a few chances that I had to prove that I could be strong for you, but it didn't seem to get me anywhere. Finally my desperation to have this role in your life over came my reasoning. After finding out that you fainted from headaches, I found myself obsessively researching spells that would cause them. Unfortunately, I never got the timing right so you passed out too far away from me and I could not catch you. I just want you to know that I never meant to send you to the hospital wing. I only wanted you to notice me.  
  
You did notice me during Christmas break and I thought that I had gotten the best Christmas gift with being able to spend time with you. I was glad that when I heard that you were staying over the holidays and that I was able to convince my little brother that it would be time well spent, because I was right. Our time together was wonderful and I was glad that I could be a sounding board when you needed it. It showed that I was there for you when you needed. On Christmas day, I went back to my room after breakfast and destroyed all the headache spells I had copied down, because I thought there was a chance for us. My hopes faded as I learned that you had been inducted into that Weasley family with a sweater. January was a bleak month for me watching you walk around with Weasley and his friends. My only consolation was that I could sit with you in the library and talk to you while you were there. February started to look better with the announcement of the Ball. I knew that you would be going with Weasley, but when I saw that you were willing to dance with other guys I knew that nothing was serious going on between the two of you and this would be my chance. Your looking around for Charlie while we were dancing was disturbing to me. I needed to get you out of his view so that I could actually talk to you and show you how I felt. I never meant to scare you or to tell you about the spell, I just wanted to kiss you so that you could feel what it was like to be kissed by someone that loves you.  
  
At the end of the dance, when you told Ryan to keep me away from you, I was crushed. I knew that I had scared you into saying that but I need to be able to explain to you my feeling. I tried to approach you when you seemed to be in a better mood but not too much avail. Once again my hope in us being a couple faded when you said the same words and ran to the protection of Weasley and his little group. I tried to keep my distance from you hoping that in time you would forget what had happened and learn to love me, but when we were partnered up in potions it seemed that it would take an eternity for you to forgive me. You wouldn't talk to me and it was truly upsetting. My emotions got the best of me once again and I dropped the cap to my ink into the cauldron knowing that something would happen. I only intended to pretend to be dropping it in. You were suppose to notice it earlier than you did, stop me from dropping it, and explain to me what would have happened if it had fallen in. I just wanted to have you talk to me and see that I really wasn't that bad of a guy, but there was the explosion. I regret that you had to go to the infirmary, because of it, but I found out that you actually care about me when you shoved me out of the way of the explosion.  
  
I know that this letter does not make up for what I have done, but I only hope that you look into your heart, see the love that you hold there for me and forgive me so we can be together.  
  
Love forever,  
  
Russel  
  
Rebecca finished the letter and quickly shoved it into her pocket and started to eat before everyone else finished their mail and asked her what she had gotten. She did not want to share it with anyone right now. It was a very disturbing letter to Rebecca and it was causing her to fell sick to her stomach.  
  
Aisha happened to look at her from down a ways from the table and asked, "Are you okay, Rebecca? You don't look that good."  
  
Everyone looked at her to see that all the color had drained from her face.  
  
"You feeling okay?" Sara asked.  
  
"No, please excuse me." Rebecca got up and rushed out of the hall leaving everyone staring at each other wondering whether she was going to be okay or not.  
  
Cathrine got up to go check on her. She found Rebecca in the bathroom throwing up, because, Russel's letter had made Rebecca that physical ill.  
  
"Are you okay, Rebecca?" asked Cathrine when Rebecca finished.  
  
"I don't know. Something must not have sat well with my stomach," Rebecca said splashing her face with water. She looked in the mirror and muttered,"I hate throwing up."  
  
"Me, too," Cathrine said handing Rebecca a towel. "Do you feel like your going to do it again?"  
  
"No I don't think so. In fact, I don't think I have anything else in me that could come up."  
  
"Hopefully. . Um, Colin and I slipped something in to your eggs. It was suppose to make you laugh uncontrollably for a minute, not make you do this. We actually put it into everyone's food. I am sorry we didn't know that it would result in this."  
  
"Did you guys invent it?"  
  
"Yeah, we needed to test it out some more it seems."  
  
"Yeah, well, I don't think it was whatever you put into my eggs. . I think I need to get something to eat. I'm feeling a bit light headed."  
  
"You want to go back to the Great Hall and try something else to eat."  
  
"Yeah, after I go brush my teeth again."  
  
They walked back in and took their seats after a quick stop up in the tower. Sara eyed Cathrine and got an 'I'll tell you later look' from her. Rebecca sat quietly and nibbled on some toast hoping her stomach would settle down.  
  
There was one blessing with being sick in the morning Rebecca was allowed to be introverted the rest of the day. After Cathrine told about what happened to Rebecca, everyone acted that if they talked to her for too long she would throw up again, which meant Rebecca could space out and no one really minded. Rebecca realized half way through classes that she was isolating herself as she had done with the last letter.  
  
'I have to tell Charlie. He will help me get through this. I know he will. I just need to find a moment with him alone,' she thought to herself. Though she wished she could tell Charlie about it, there never seemed to be a quiet moment that she could.  
  
After lunch, she came to the conclusion that she needed to keep her mind off the letter until she could talk to Charlie alone. She started plotting what she would do for the rest of the day and talking to her friends about Colin and Cathrine's invention to distract herself.  
  
After a while, she forgot about the letter in pocket.  
  
Rebecca was feeling a lot better at the end of the day so she went to the library to get some work done before Charlie was done with practice and they started to study. She sat on the floor in one of the aisles filled with books on transfiguration. Rebecca just sat there taking notes from a fairly large book not noticing the commotion of students walking past the aisle.  
  
It wasn't until someone walked into the aisle that Rebecca was aware that there were other students in the library. Rebecca continued with her task not looking to see who was walking up to her.  
  
Finally the boy decided to say, "That doesn't look too comfortable."  
  
"It works for me," she said finally looking up at the person. Rebecca gasped when her eyes landed on his face spilling her ink all over her notes.  
  
Rebecca turned quickly back at her notes when she realized that it was Russel.  
  
"Did you get my letter?" Russel asked her.  
  
"Yeah," answered Rebecca softly as she tried not to make eye contact with him by examining her ruined notes and the empty ink bottle.  
  
Russel took a seat next to her and asked, "Well what did you think?"  
  
Rebecca was getting more uncomfortable and really didn't want to talk to him, but felt that she needed to tell Russel exactly what she thought. "Do you realize what you did to me and it was all because you wanted to get my attention? From my point of view it was all disturbing. To even think that you thought that everything you did would make me want to be around you is nuts."  
  
"Well, I sorry about it all as I told you in the letter, but being a 'hero' wasn't working that well so I needed something else," he responded.  
  
Russel slide closer to her causing Rebecca to scoot away causing her to back into a corner as she questioned, "A hero?"  
  
"Yeah, stepping in to get your map, telling Harvey to apology to that Mudblood."  
  
Russel didn't get to finish his list, because Rebecca slapped him as she firmly said, "How dare you use that word."  
  
After touching his face for a second, Russel said, "Oh that is going to cost you, girlie."  
  
He moved to pin Rebecca against the wall for a kiss, but she scrambled to her feet just in time. Russel tried to grab her to stop her from leaving. Rebecca took the book that was still in her hands, hit him with it, and dropped it as she ran out of the section. She ran out of the library and straight towards the Gryffindor tower fearful that Russel might be following her.  
  
When she hit the top of steps, she looked back to see if anyone was coming up. As Rebecca turned to walk into the portrait, she gasped again when she saw someone was standing there. At first she thought Russel had some how gotten a head of her, but was relieved when she realized it was actually Charlie. He stood there sopping wet staring at her.  
  
"Why aren't you at practice?" Rebecca asked startled to see him, because they weren't supposed to study together for another hour when he got off of practice.  
  
"It was too hard raining so we had to cut it short. Everyone else headed in about a half hour ago, but I had to get the snitch. . What's the matter with you?" Charlie asked her looking at her with a puzzled face.  
  
Rebecca gave the password to the Fat Lady and quickly ushered a confused Charlie into the room constantly looking over her shoulder for a sign of Russel. She stopped Charlie just inside of the door where no one in the common room could see them.  
  
When the door was completely shut, Rebecca started telling Charlie about the letter and the events that happened in the library just moments ago. Charlie listened carefully to what Rebecca said and watched tears start to roll down her face as she talked. He touched her face to wipe away some of some of her tears and tucked a loose strand of her hair behind her ear.  
  
Rebecca pulled out the letter from pocket and handed to Charlie. He took it from her trembling hands and started to read it. When he finished, he looked up to see she was still crying.  
  
"Why did you keep this in your pocket?" Charlie asked curious on why she would keep something so disturbing with her.  
  
"I didn't know where else to put it. I didn't want anyone to see it so I shoved it into my pocket this morning and somehow managed to forget about it."  
  
"This is really disturbing," stated Charlie after he reread the letter.  
  
"I know," Rebecca whispered through her tears putting her hands up to her mouth.  
  
Charlie put his arms around Rebecca and just held her as she cried on his shoulder. As he held her, Charlie thought, 'I should hunt down Flint and cause him as much pain as he is causing Rebecca to have. He has no clue how much he has inflicted. I wish I could drag him in here and just let him see let him see this and then punch him right in the face, so that he know exactly what he has done.'  
  
Another voice then popped into Charlie's thoughts, saying, 'Get a hold of yourself, man, she needs you right now. Don't go off and leave her crying by herself. You can take care of Flint later. Becca is too scared for you to leave. Why else would she have told you?'  
  
Charlie couldn't fight with that logic and so he wrapped his arms around Rebecca slightly tighter. He felt her step in closer and relax a little, but she was still crying so Charlie continued to hold her.  
  
They stood there for a while longer. Rebecca didn't care that her clothes were becoming wet from Charlie holding her, she was just glad that he was there for her, even after her little tantrum about needing space.  
  
When it appeared that Rebecca had stopped crying, Charlie whispered to her, "Becca, let's get out of these wet clothes and talk some more by the fire."  
  
Rebecca reluctantly pulled away, shook her head in agreement, and started towards her room. She came back to the common room in some red pajama pants and a grey long sleeve shirt. Charlie was already sitting by the fire in a similar outfit waiting for Rebecca to come back down.  
  
He smiled as Rebecca took a seat next to him and put her head on his shoulder. Charlie wrapped his arms around her and they just sat there. They didn't say a word to each other, but just sat there staring into the fire. Rebecca felt so safe that she eventually drifted off to sleep.  
  
As Rebecca slept, Greg came over and sat in the chair closest to Charlie so that he could talk to Charlie to see what was going.  
  
Before Greg could say something, Jacquelyn walked over with James and said, "Isn't that a pretty picture? It looks like you two go over your rough patch."  
  
She and James settled down on the other end of the couch as Sara walked over towards Greg.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Charlie asked giving Jacquelyn a strange look as Colin and Cathrine came over to see what was up.  
  
"Oh, come on mate, it's about time you and Rebecca actually show that you're a couple," James stated.  
  
"But we're not a couple," Charlie clarified.  
  
"What?!" Cathrine and Colin said in unison.  
  
"We thought you were already together with the way that you act towards her. We figure you asked her out after Valentine's Day and that you just wanted to keep it quiet until the Russel situation died down," Colin said.  
  
Charlie shook his head no to let Colin know that they all assumed wrong.  
  
"Why don't you ask her out?" asked Cathrine really wanting him to wake her friend up and ask her right then and there.  
  
Sara waited a moment while Charlie made a face at Cathrine and stated, "You are already acting like you're a couple you might as well make it official. I know that she really likes you, so you shouldn't worry about her rejecting you."  
  
'She doesn't know about what happened in the hospital wing,' Charlie thought as he sighed and looked at Greg to get some help.  
  
Greg leaned forward and looked at everyone. After staring them down, he said, "Charlie and I need to talk. Alone."  
  
Everyone walked away disappointed that they wouldn't get to hear what Greg would say to Charlie, but they knew better than to go against Greg when it came to Charlie.  
  
After everyone was out of earshot, Greg turned towards Charlie and asked, "Do you remember in the fall before the first quidditch match when we were talking about your need of new arm pads?"  
  
Charlie nodded vaguely remembering that night.  
  
"Do you remember when Rebecca walked past us that night?"  
  
Charlie shook his head again not sure where Greg was going with it.  
  
"Well, you stopped our conversation to talk to her. I asked when she went up stairs what you thought of her, because I thought there was something there and that you might become aware of it when you had to think of your answer. You have paid more attention to her than any girl you have ever known. The whole group knows there is something there. In fact, Bill even realizes it. He says that you have stopped conversations with him to talk to Rebecca or help her. Colin and Cathrine wanted to pull some prank to cause you to ask Rebecca out. Sara and I slowed them down so that you could ask her on your own time, but it obviously hasn't happened yet even though we all thought it had."  
  
Charlie sat silently and looked down at Rebecca as Greg looked at him. When Charlie didn't say anything, Greg asked, "Were you going to ask her out before Christmas?"  
  
Charlie looked at Greg and quietly said, "Yes, I just couldn't get the nerve up to do it the morning we left. . I thought about asking her in January but it never seemed like the right time, she was always studying or helping someone. ... Then there was the announcement of the ball. I was surprised I had the nerve to ask her to be my date for it. I actually planned on asking her to be my girlfriend after the dance when we all were going to give the girls the candy we bought that day, but then everything happened and I couldn't ask her then. I didn't even give her the candy. I think it is still up in my trunk."  
  
Greg nodded his head signaling that he knew there was more and stalling wasn't going to work on him so Charlie continued, "When we started studying together, I wasn't sure whether Rebecca would want to do it again, so I asked her if she wanted to be my study partner. . I admitted it I was ecstatic that she said yes so fast, but I didn't think we were in the right place for anything more just then. I thought we were getting to a point where I might ask her, but she said that she doesn't want to get attached to anyone here and that she needs some space."  
  
"Maybe she is just scared."  
  
"Yeah, but don't you think she has a right to be with everything that has happened in her life..."  
  
"Yes and no. I understand that she would be defensive, but I don't think Becca even has a defense that you couldn't get around. She lights up around you, plain and simple. There is something between you two. Neither of you can deny it or even hide it. Mate, you might have asked her just to study with you, but the way you two interacted lead all of us to believe you were actually going out. I have to admit that I wondered why you didn't walk with her with your arm around her, sit with her like this, or call her your girl. . Sara has talked to Rebecca about you. She does the exact same thing she talks highly of you and seems to want something more but doesn't seem to know how to communicate it to you. You need to figure out how to communicate with her about this."  
  
There was a pause as Charlie looked at Rebecca and pondered what Greg said, finally he stated, "You're right. . I know what I have to do."  
  
'I will do it this time. Nothing is going to stop me. And I know when I am going to ask her too,' Charlie promised himself.  
  
Greg nodded his head, but then paused to ask, "You're not going to ask her when she wakes up, are you? You know everyone is going to want you to do it right then."  
  
"No, I got more class than that, mate."  
  
Greg sat back relieved that Charlie wasn't going to be pressured any to anything involving Rebecca. The boys continued to talk as Rebecca slept. Charlie told Greg of the letter Russel sent Rebecca. Greg was appalled and said pretty much what Charlie said and thought when he had read the letter. The guys discussed the issue for a while trying to figure out what to do to protect Rebecca from suffering at Russel hands.  
  
When Rebecca woke up, Charlie sent her up to bed without saying anything to her about dating, much to the chagrin of his friends. 


	11. The Ring

The next day Charlie was very secretive. He seemed to be watching out for Russel like a hawk, which made Russel nervous. Charlie still had a desire to knock Flint around if he got to close to Rebecca, but there was something else that was in the back of his mind.  
  
Rebecca didn't think anything about it until he went to talk to McGonagall and told Rebecca that she wouldn't be interested in what he was talking to her about. There were several other incidents where Charlie left Rebecca in the common room or with the rest of the group to do something else without letting her know a single detail about it or inviting her to join in as he normally did.  
  
By then everyone knew about what happened in the library with Russel, so Rebecca had protection, but still she wished Charlie wouldn't leave her like that. For some reason, it made her feel lonely.  
  
By Friday night, Rebecca was really upset about what was going on between her and Charlie. She tried to hide it by staying busy in hopes that Charlie would come back to his normal self if he thought she was okay. After dinner, she went up to her room and just laid on her bed thinking to herself. 'I said I wanted space and he is just respecting my wishes. I wish I never would have said it. Why couldn't I have let my defenses down for him? I bet he doesn't even know that I am lonely with how busy I have been pretending to be. Nice defense mechanism I have there. Why do I always have to stay so busy so that no one knows what is going on inside?'  
  
"Idiot," Rebecca muttered. She sat up, stared at her copy of Quidditch through the Ages, which sitting on her bed stand, and started to sing:  
  
So lonely inside  
  
So busy out there  
  
And all you wanted  
  
Was somebody who cares  
  
(Michelle Branch's All You wanted)  
  
Suddenly there was a noise that stopped Rebecca from sing another word. She looked at the door but there was nothing. Rebecca decided it must have been her imagination and went back to thinking about her mistake as she picked up the book from Charlie and looked at the message he had written in it.  
  
After about five minutes, Sara walked into the room and asked, "Hey, don't you want to come hang out with us tonight?"  
  
"Is Charlie down there?" Rebecca asked looking at Sara hopefully.  
  
"No, he said he had to do something."  
  
"Oh." The change in Rebecca's face told Sara everything.  
  
"Want to talk about it?" Sara asked.  
  
"I told Charlie that I needed some space when I was sick and upset."  
  
"Eew."  
  
"Yeah, well after the incident with Russel in the library, Charlie was so great and he seemed to know exactly what to do to make me feel better. When I woke up the next day, I realized that I need to retract my 'I need space' request, but Charlie started to be real mysterious and I barely can say anything to him at one time. If it doesn't have to do with school work, he is off doing something else."  
  
Rebecca continued telling Sara what lead to her request starting with the letter and her fears of what it might lead to. Sara sat there and just listened as her friend told her about how her and Charlie's disagreement about what it could mean and how she had this defensive side that caused her to build walls between herself and others. How she really didn't want to do it, but something always slipped out to cause it to happen. "I sat there and thought about how I didn't want to build these walls, but when I went to say something it came out as an 'it's none of your business, so leave me alone' comment. He called me Rebecca..."  
  
"He didn't" Sara interrupted as she thought to herself, 'Charlie doesn't call her that to her face and I haven't heard him call her that since Christmas.'  
  
"Yeah, I know. You'd think I would have taken it as a sign to get everything off my chest and that he was seriously worried, but no I tell him only part of it and probably hurt his feeling in the process. He is such a great guy, which he's proven over and over, and I really like him, but the way that I was acting towards him no one would have ever known. . And I am mad at myself, because I was able tell him about Russel and get him to protect me from Russel, but can't let him help me with something that is just in my head. He might actually be able to help me stop building these walls. I have opened up about so much since I got here and it is all because of him. I feel so safe around him and I know he doesn't want to see me get hurt. Even after what might be considered our fight, he still came running over to me when I flew across the room and carried me to the hospital wing. . And what do I do I tell him I need space. Do you think I have blown my friendship with him?"  
  
Sara gave her a slight smile and with a comforting tone in her voice said, "I don't know what is up with Charlie, but I do know that he likes you and I am sure that tomorrow when we all go to Hogsmeade together, he'll be acting like his old self. I think that you guys' friendship will make it through everything."  
  
Rebecca shook her head and then said, "Thanks for listening to my rambling."  
  
"Anytime." Sara gave Rebecca a hug and they headed down stairs to hang out with everyone else.  
  
Charlie showed up about an hour later smiling to himself. When asked why he was so happy, he just changed the subject and sat down next to Rebecca just like he used to.  
  
The group sat there until about 11:00 p.m. laughing about new prank ideas that Cathrine and Colin had and how they planned not to get detention for them. Everyone made a comment here or there that caused them to roar with more laughter.  
  
Rebecca felt like Charlie was back to normal by the time they all went to bed and hoped that tomorrow they could start out like they had been without any problems.  
  
Charlie woke up early on Saturday. He was very excited to get moving and headed to Hogsmeade. Everyone else was less enthusiastic and it took a while for everyone to be ready just to go to breakfast. The boys got so sick of Charlie's perkiness that they ordered him to the Great Hall while everyone else finished up.  
  
Rebecca was the last one to head down to the Great Hall, because she had lain in bed thinking of Charlie until the early hours of the morning. She was still a bit groggy as she walked down the main staircase and a group started to form around her. She was about half way down the stairs when Rebecca realized that there was someone in her way.  
  
After a couple of blinks, Rebecca recognized the person stopping her as Kirsta. "Oh, hi, Kirsta, what's up?" Rebecca asked as she looked around to see that she was encircled by a whole group of sixth year Slytherin girls none with a very pleasant expression on.  
  
"What's up with you and Russel?" Kirsta harshly questioned taking a step towards Rebecca and giving her an evil look.  
  
With no where to go, Rebecca held her own and stared right back. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"He has been acting strange lately and it seems to be stemming from you. He's my guy, leave him ALONE!"  
  
"Fine no problem." Rebecca tried to take a step but Kirsta step into her way.  
  
"I don't think that you understand." Rebecca rolled her eyes and stared back at Kirsta.  
  
All of a sudden a voice said, "Excuse me, ladies, but I need to borrow Rebecca," and a hand came into the group.  
  
Rebecca took it not caring who it was attached because she could handle one person better than a whole group even if the hand belonged to someone like Russel.  
  
Kirsta turned around to look at the person and would have answered their question no, but it was A.J. and she couldn't even speak a word.  
  
"Thank you," A.J. said as Rebecca cleared the group.  
  
"No problem," Kirsta dreamily said as he led Rebecca into the Great Hall.  
  
"Thank you," Rebecca said to A.J. as they sat done at the table.  
  
"What is going on?" Charlie asked looking at the two.  
  
"Kirsta and her goons surrounded me on my way down the steps and A.J. got me out." Rebecca responded looking into Charlie's eyes.  
  
"Why were they around you?" A.J. asked.  
  
Still looking into Charlie's eyes Rebecca said, "I have no clue. She was telling me to say away from Russel, like I really need told to do that." Rebecca paused for a moment, turned towards A.J., and then said, "I think that some one likes you." Rebecca's smile made A.J. a little edgy.  
  
"You don't mean?" he said.  
  
Rebecca nodded her head.  
  
"You're nuts! That is all there is to it. I think you have been hanging out with Charlie too long. Kirsta hangs off of Russel. Grant it he doesn't give her the time of day, but she still is all about him. Besides she knows that Anna and I are a couple."  
  
"Yes but Anna is in her seventh year. That means next year she won't be around and Kirsta will have you all to her self," Colin teased.  
  
"Oh, shut up," A.J. said as Anna sat down at the table next to him. The blonde laughed when she was filled in on what happened and A.J. joined in seeing that it was a silly thing to get upset about.  
  
After breakfast, the whole group headed out to Hogsmeade. Charlie took Rebecca's hand as they first walked out of the castle. Rebecca didn't know exactly why he took her hand since it wasn't slippery out, but she didn't care she just let him hold her hand and hoped he wouldn't let go.  
  
As the group walked along, Charlie and Rebecca trailed everyone. They were almost to the village when Charlie turned to Rebecca with the same smile he had given her so many times before and said, "I got something to show you."  
  
Rebecca looked at him curiously and said, "Okay, what?!"  
  
Charlie led her over to a side of a house covered with climbing roses already in bloom with the help of magic. He picked one and placed it into Rebecca's hand.  
  
"Now watch," Charlie said as he pulled out his wand and mutter something.  
  
Rebecca watched amazed as the rose transfigure into a silver ring.  
  
On the thin, delicate, vine woven band sat a miniature rose bloom flanked by two petite leaves each with every tiny RC's on them. Rebecca stared at it for a moment and then looked up at Charlie.  
  
"Wow that was amazing. It's absolutely beautiful," she said.  
  
Charlie picked the ring up from her hand and said, "Well I am glad you like it. I have been practicing this week so that I could show you."  
  
"Really, for me? Why?"  
  
"Because I really like you. I have to admit I have since I met you. And, I know that you don't want to get attached to anyone around her, but I want to have the chance to try to change your mind so that I can ask you to be my girlfriend."  
  
Rebecca face softened as he spoke thinking of how she liked him too more than anyone she had ever met.  
  
"Oh, Charlie," she whispered, "I would be lying if I said that I wasn't already attached to you."  
  
Rebecca took a step closer as Charlie took her right hand and softly asked, "So, Becca, will you be my girlfriend?"  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca whispered back giving Charlie the same sweet smile he loved so much. Charlie put the ring on Rebecca's finger and looks into her eyes with a smile. He leaned in and for a kiss. Rebecca melted into Charlie's arms after their soft sweet kiss.  
  
After a moment, Charlie and Rebecca turned and started to walk again so that they could catch up with the rest of the group.  
  
The rest of the group had already gotten a corner table at The Three Broomsticks when Charlie and Rebecca got there. Making a bee line to the group, Charlie and Rebecca walked over. They passed Ryan, Cassie, Kirsta, and Russel on the way. Russel glared as Charlie pulled out the chair for Rebecca and then took his seat next to her.  
  
Rebecca was tucking a stand of her hair behind her ear when Sara spotted the ring.  
  
"Charlie, where did you get that ring from?" she asked knowing that Rebecca hadn't had it before the walk so she assumed Charlie gave it to her and she like the rest of the group knew why he would.  
  
Charlie eyed the guys and hesitantly said, "I, um . transfigured a rose into it."  
  
Colin jumped in and joked, "Dude, why did you do that? Now all the girls are going to want the rest of us to do that for them." Greg and James playfully shook their heads in agreement with Colin's statement.  
  
"Don't listen to them, Charlie. They're just mad that you raised the bar and they will have to work harder to impress us. . And if they are ever as secretive as you have been the last week we will be expecting something as brilliant as what you did," stated Jacquelyn while she laughed.  
  
Cathrine was about to say something when Ryan and Cassie came over.  
  
"Hey what's going on?" Cassie started, but she caught sight of the Rebecca's ring and said, "Wow Rebecca! That is a beautiful ring. Where did you get it from?"  
  
"Oh, Charlie gave it to me," Rebecca responded giving Charlie another sweet smile.  
  
Cassie was about to ask Charlie where he got it when Ryan erupted and asked, "Does that mean what I think it mean?"  
  
"What?" Rebecca asked not sure exactly what he thought it meant and not wanting to answer until she was sure.  
  
Ryan was visibly upset and did not want to say it, but had to say, "Are you and Weasley dating?"  
  
Rebecca looked at Charlie with a bigger smile and responded, "Yeah," without even looking at Ryan. Charlie and Rebecca's friends all smiled at each other relieved that they had actual confirmation of their assumption.  
  
"Congratulations!" squealed Cassie as she walked off to tell Kirsta the good news. Ryan just stood there staring at Rebecca as if he want to say something, but not sure what to say.  
  
"Guys, we better go if we want to do anything else before we have to get back," James whispered across the table.  
  
With that Rebecca stood up and turned to Ryan and said, "Well, we got to get going. We'll see you later."  
  
Charlie stood up, took her hand, and lead Rebecca out of the tavern. Greg and Sara were close behind, followed by Colin and Cathrine. James and Jacquelyn were the last ones to leave.  
  
After they left, Russel walked over to Ryan who was still standing there.  
  
"So they're dating?" Russel grimly asked. Ryan shook his head yes. "What does she see in that loser, Weasley?"  
  
"Who knows?"  
  
"Kirsta and Cassie both seemed to be ecstatic about it. I wonder what is up with those two."  
  
"From what I heard, Kirsta told Rebecca to stay away from you this morning. Charlie asking Rebecca to be his girlfriend means that she won't be looking at you for a 'potential' boyfriend, so Kirsta wins."  
  
Russel looked like he was about to exploded as he stated, "Maybe I don't want her to win."  
  
"Mate, you don't exactly get the choice."  
  
"And why not? I am not dating Kirsta. Cassie for some reason keeps trying to get me to like her and some how convinced Kirsta that I was her boyfriend, but it isn't what is actually going on."  
  
Russel stormed off upset not only at Kista for what she had done, but that Charlie had gotten Rebecca.  
  
He hadn't gone that far when he saw Charlie and Rebecca standing hand in hand looking at a window display. Russel turned around and walked back to the castle. He wouldn't be able to enjoy the day if he had to see them together like that and he couldn't imagine how he would feel it he saw them kiss. Russel didn't trust himself to keep his cool if he saw that and he had already scared Rebecca away from him, if he did it again he could probably kiss any chance he had of ever getting her to forgive good-bye. 


	12. Injuries

The next week was torture for Russel, he had Kirsta trying to get him to ask her out every time he turned around and he had to see Rebecca with Charlie. By the end of the week, he had gotten feed up with everything and figured out how to avoid everyone.  
  
It wasn't until Saturday during the Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff quidditch match that he saw Charlie and Rebecca. They were sitting in the stands with all of the Gryffindor team and their others friends.  
  
The Slytherin team sat behind them. There was a lot of tension between the groups, partly because the Slytherin team sat there and bashed the Gryffindor team. The Gryffindor group tried to ignore them.  
  
They were successful until one of the Slytherins said an off-colored comment about how the team was chosen. That statement caused Charlie, Greg, and the rest of the guys of the team stood up and turned around to stare down the Slytherins.  
  
Rebecca and the other girls got the guys to calm down and sit back down, by telling the Gryffindor males that they were better than that and should just ignore it.  
  
As the guys sat down, Ryan remarked, "Wow, them Gryffindor boys are sure whipped."  
  
Rebecca shot up out of her seat and spun around so that she was facing Ryan before anyone else could react.  
  
"You better watch what you say or you're going to get a black eye," she forcefully stated as both Gryffindor and Slytherin student just stared at her.  
  
"Are you going to order Weasley to give it to me?" reproached Ryan with a smirk on his face. He seemed to be the only one not taken aback by what Rebecca had just did.  
  
"No, I am," Rebecca confidently responded.  
  
"You think that you can punch me hard enough to do that or that I would even let you?"  
  
"I did it when we were younger and I'll do it now," Rebecca finished and stared at Ryan.  
  
He stared back remembering when he got the shiner from Rebecca. He had threatened to throw her into a pit with snakes knowing full well that she had a phobia of them. Rebecca had gotten mad enough at him when he kept saying it that she punched him right in the eye.  
  
They continued to stare at each other for a minute or two. Everyone around them watched to see what was going to happen next. Russel was intrigued by the whole exchange and was looking for an opportunity to step in. He thought maybe he could get on Rebecca's good side if he did.  
  
Unfortunately for Russel, Ryan gave in and said, "This is ridiculous," and stormed off only to return a short time later.  
  
Rebecca sat back down as the game started. Colin was busy announcing the team members when Charlie leaned over and said, "Did you really give Malfoy a black eye?"  
  
Rebecca smiled and nodded her head. Charlie turned back to the game smiling at the idea that a girl gave Ryan a shiner.  
  
The match commenced and Rebecca found herself in the middle of critics. It seemed that everyone on the Gryffindor's team had something to say with how the other team's members executed their position. Rebecca and Sara looked at each other, rolled their eyes and started to laugh.  
  
Soon the critics stopped as the game became more intense. Ravenclaw was up by ten point when Hufflepuff scored tying the game. After the Hufflepuff crowd stopped cheering, the seekers on each team took off chasing the golden snitch. They followed closely for a while and finally the Ravenclaw seeker landed and held up the snitch causing Ravenclaw to cheer.  
  
As Rebecca and Charlie walked away from the stands they passed Ryan who was completely by himself. "Rebecca," Ryan started, "Can I talk to you? Alone?"  
  
Rebecca looked at Charlie giving him a look to let him know that she would be okay. Charlie nodded and turned to catch up with the others.  
  
Rebecca turned back towards Ryan and asked, "What's up?"  
  
Ryan looked down and kicked a piece of earth. "When we were younger we were each other's best friend and unseparateable. Now, we barely talk and all I can see is that you aren't the same person you use to be."  
  
"What?!"  
  
"Come on Rebecca, you know what I am talking about."  
  
"Obviously I don't. . You say that I have changed and maybe I have. To tell the truth I would be surprised if you thought that I was the exact same person that I was when I was ten. Things change and people do to, but I am not the only on that changed here. ... And let me just add this to the fact that we don't talk a lot, I am not the one who was trying to hide something when we magically became cousins."  
  
"I was just trying to make it so that you could hang out with me without Cassie suspecting that there was something there that wasn't. A lot of good it did me, you won't even hang out with me even when you're invited."  
  
"Well maybe if you had explained the whole Cassie situation to me and weren't always surround by those lackeys that you call friends then I would consider taking you up on your offers."  
  
"Lackeys? My friends are not lackeys. What do they have to do with you and me?"  
  
"I don't care to be around them. Yeah, I would get to hang out with you, but I wouldn't enjoy it. I don't feel comfortable around them and don't forget what Flint did to me. Why would I want to put myself in that situation?"  
  
"He got frustrated trying to get to know you. I can understand that. Heck I might have been tempted to get you alone if I couldn't get you to respond to me. The truth of the matter is Russel really likes you and you don't give him the time of day."  
  
"Don't go defending him," Rebecca said walking away and thinking, 'He doesn't know about the headaches. If I tell him now, he'll think I made it up. I am sure that hasn't changed since we were kids. . He'll never see fault in his goon of a friend.'  
  
Ryan followed and grabbed her arm stopping her from going any farther.  
  
"What happened to you?" he asked.  
  
"What happened to you? What happened to the guy that wanted to protect me when we were younger even when I wasn't going to let you?"  
  
Ryan dropped her arm and stared as Rebecca walked away again. He thought to himself, 'What does she need protected from other than getting hurt by Weasley?'  
  
After a minute Ryan walked back to the Slytherin common room, mad that Rebecca accused him of change. He was still the same person he had always been or at least that is what he thought.  
  
When he came in to the room, Russel walked over to him and asked, "So did you and Rebecca getting everything settled?"  
  
Ryan glared at him and said, "No. Mate, you have no idea how much she has changed."  
  
"I like the way she is," Russel said with a smile thinking of Rebecca. "She's spunky. Did she really give you a black eye?"  
  
Ryan reluctantly nodded.  
  
Russel laughed and said, "I think she would have done it again." He chuckled and then sighed, "It's too bad she fell into that crowd with that Weasley loser."  
  
"You know you're right she didn't seem that different at the start of school."  
  
"Maybe she'll discover what Weasley really is and go back to normal." Russel muttered to himself walking away from Ryan.  
  
Ryan stood there for a moment and thought to himself, 'Maybe I should see what all happened in that room on at the ball. Rebecca would have let it go if it was just Russel pulling her off the floor, professing his feeling for her, and then trying to kiss her.' He looked around the common room and didn't see Russel.  
  
Before Ryan could go and look for Russel in their dorm room, Cassie walked up and started talking to him about the difficulty of their homework. Ryan had to give up what his search to help Cassie so that she would stop the drama.  
  
Rebecca walked into Gryffindor common room in a bad mood after her conversation with Ryan, but soon found herself laughing when she joined her friends and listened to Cathrine and Colin's new plan to get potion classes cancelled for Monday.  
  
"You guys are nuts. It will never work and even if you did get it to, Snape will catch you," Greg said after they finished telling how they were going to get the room flooded.  
  
"We'll do it tomorrow and no one will know the difference," Colin responded.  
  
Sara stepped in and said, "You're forgetting that Snape is always in his office on Sunday."  
  
"You are such a wet blanket sometimes," Cathrine whined.  
  
"We just don't want you guys to get into trouble and have to serve detention again," Sara said and then sarcastically added, "or lose points."  
  
"Yeah," Cathrine muttered as she crinkled up the paper with the plan on it and threw it into the fire.  
  
"Back to the drawling door," Colin joked.  
  
Everyone laughed and they started new conversation. Eventually, they started their homework, which took them until Sunday evening to get it all done.  
  
Monday morning came and everyone sat around talking about anything and everything that would keep their mind off of classes. When it was finally time to head to classes, Rebecca and Charlie walked out of the great hall hand in hand. They had just stepped out into the corridor when Rebecca remembered a defense against the dark arts book she had been showing Bill was still on the table.  
  
"Oh my book," she started, "Go ahead I'll meet you there."  
  
"Okay," responded Charlie as she headed back into the Great Hall.  
  
They separated and headed to their respective classes.  
  
Rebecca found Bill still looking at the book.  
  
"Hey," she said as she walked up.  
  
"Hey, Becca, are you looking for this?" Bill asked pointing at the book.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Here you go," he said handing the book to her and getting up and walking out with her. "By the way, I am glad Charlie finally got the nerve to ask you out. I thought he was going to drive everyone crazy by how much he talked about you."  
  
Rebecca smiled and then asked, "He talked about me?"  
  
"Oh yeah, over Christmas break it was Becca this and Becca that. My mother actually asked me if you guys were dating and Charlie just didn't want to tell to tell her right then. Luckily I went with the safe answer of 'I don't know', because a yes answer even though I thought it was right obviously that would have been the wrong answer."  
  
Rebecca laughed. "I think we had several people thinking the same as you. I am sure that there has been a lot of 'About time' statements behind our backs."  
  
"You have no idea."  
  
"Yeah well just between you and me, I am glad that Charlie wait until now. . I am not saying that I wouldn't have given the same answer. In fact, I probably would have said yes after our carriage ride to Hogwarts at the beginning of the year, but I probably would have been really paranoid about why he was asking me. After everything that Charlie has helped me through this year so far, I don't have any grounds to question him on why. ... It's nice to know that we have a friendship as a base for our relationship on."  
  
Bill smiled at her and said, "I think Charlie could sense that you need to have time. I am glad he was right about it."  
  
"Yeah, I am too." Rebecca looked down at her watch and added, "Well I got to get to class. I'll talk to you later."  
  
"Yeah see you, Becca."  
  
They separated and headed to their respective classes.  
  
Rebecca looked down at her watch again and saw that she really needed to hurry up to get to class on time. She rushed down the hall to the stair. As she ran down the stairs, she passed Ryan and his group. Russel was the closest to her as she passed. He grabbed her arm as he said, "Hey you better slow down before you get hurt."  
  
But Rebecca was thrown off balance and tumbled down the stairs. She hit the bottom step and stopped herself with her left hand. Rebecca was about to get up when Charlie rushed over and scooped her up. He took her into the potions room and sat her down on a stool just inside the room.  
  
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked.  
  
"My wrist really hurts," Rebecca responded holding her left wrist.  
  
Snape had come over immediately after Charlie came with Rebecca.  
  
"Mr. Weasley, what happened?"  
  
Charlie was about to responded when Rebecca started spitting blood out of her mouth.  
  
"Take her to the infirmary now, Mr. Weasley," ordered Snape as everyone watched in silence.  
  
As Charlie picked Rebecca back up and rushed to the infirmary, Russel kept saying over and over, "I am sorry. I didn't mean to."  
  
Snape turned to him and said, "What are you muttering about, Mr. Flint?"  
  
Russel went into the explanation of what had happened and afterwards got a scolding from Snape.  
  
In the infirmary, Rebecca got checked out from Madame Pompfrey. Rebecca was a bit uncomfortable as Madame Pompfrey was seeing why she was spitting up blood. Now Madame Pompfrey didn't say anything but Rebecca could just feel that she was wondering why she had seen Rebecca so much this year.  
  
After Madame Pompfrey discovered that Rebecca had bitten the inside of her cheek as she fell and that was the where all the blood was coming from, it was time to tend to Rebecca's wrist. Madame Pomfrey finished wrapping Rebecca's wrist and told Rebecca to stay on the cot until she got back.  
  
Charlie took a seat next to Rebecca and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  
  
"Do you know how many times I have been here because of him?" Rebecca soberly asked.  
  
Charlie could tell that Rebecca was getting depressed about being hurt again by Russel's stupidity. In an attempt to cheer her up, he said, "Three, I had the privilege of bring you bringing you here each time."  
  
Rebecca looked at him with a harsh look, but when she saw his timid smile, her face softened and she said, "Funny. don't you think it is a bit extreme?"  
  
"Yes, but I was at the bottom of the steps and when I saw Flint, he had this shocked remorseful face. I have never seen him look like that before, so this might have been a complete accident. We'll just have to wait and see if Russel confesses that he did it on purpose."  
  
'Of course, accident or not, if he knows what is good for him, he'll stay away from her,' Charlie silently added to himself.  
  
Rebecca looked down at her hands as Charlie spoke. Something was missing.  
  
"My ring is gone!"  
  
"What?"  
  
"I don't have the ring that you gave me. It was on my finger this morning and now it's gone."  
  
"It must have slipped off when you fell. Don't worry about it we'll find it later, Becca."  
  
She nodded her head in agreement.  
  
Rebecca was about to say something when the door to the infirmary door opened. Russel walked in and straight to the cot where Rebecca and Charlie were sitting with his hand behind his back. Rebecca and Charlie stared at him wondering what he was there for. Actually, Charlie glared at him, but he still wondered why Russel was there was here.  
  
Rebecca leaned over to Charlie, put her cheek on his shoulder, and took a hold of his arm with both hands as Russel stopped in front of them.  
  
"I found this in the hall," Russel finally said, showing Rebecca's ring to her, but handing it to Charlie. "I just wanted to let you know this was truly an accident. When I saw you rushing down the stairs I thought you were going too fast and might trip. Unfortunately, it was my doing that caused you to fall and I am sorry about it. I know that I have done some horrible things to you, but I really never wanted to hurt you. I know that I will never be able to say sorry enough to make you really understand. I just hope that you can take everything I said right now for what it's worth and decide what you think of me from it and not everything else."  
  
Russel turned and walked out without Charlie and Rebecca saying anything.  
  
They both sat there shocked until Russel was out of the room.  
  
"He found it?" Charlie said in a shocked tone in his voice as he turned towards Rebecca.  
  
"He gave it back?" said Rebecca just as astonished as Charlie.  
  
"It should be okay. I placed a charm on it so that it wouldn't fall apart every time we practiced any spell. Professor Flitwick said that it would protect it from being tampted with," Charlie explained as he looked into Rebecca's eyes.  
  
They stared at each other for a moment, and then Charlie took Rebecca's hand and slipped the ring back on her finger. Charlie leaned in and they kissed.  
  
Madame Pompfrey came back in and looked at Rebecca again and said that they could leave. Charlie helped Rebecca up and they walked out hand in hand. As they walked to class, Rebecca thought of what Russel had said. He seemed sincere, but Rebecca could not really feel safe around him at least not right now. 


	13. Tower Mates

For the next week, Rebecca tried to avoid Russel and practically all other Slytherin, but not with much success. Every time she turned around Russel was there. She couldn't figure out how he always seemed to be there where she was when she was trying to stay away from him. Nothing happened when Russel came near Rebecca, but she still didn't feel comfortable.  
  
She found that her only safe place was with Charlie or in Gryffindor tower. Wood had the quidditch team training extra hard, so Charlie was around less and less at night. This caused Rebecca hang out in the tower and worked on her homework so that she wouldn't have any run in with Russel without someone with her that Russel might fear.  
  
By Friday, Rebecca was tired of watching her back for what seemed to be nothing other than paranoia. Saturday was going to be a wonderful day in her mind because she didn't have to leave the tower other than for meals.  
  
Saturday morning came and Rebecca woke up to find that it was raining. Rebecca got up and joined her friends to head down for breakfast. They barely got anything eaten because Cathrine and Colin were doing their best impression of James and Jacquelyn arguing over a homework problem. James spurred them on as Jacquelyn blushed until the two mimics did something so over the top that she could not help but join in on the laughter.  
  
By the end of the meal the whole Gryffindor table was watching Cathrine and Colin and laughing. No one from the other houses could understand what was so funny, because they had never experienced the late night fights the two would have in the common room over their homework.  
  
They went back up to the common room and relaxed and did some light homework during the hours between breakfast and lunch. After lunch it was still raining just harder than before so everyone sat in the common room talking. Rebecca started to yawn, a result of a mixture of being tired and the relaxing sound of the rain.  
  
She had just gotten up and announced that she was going to go take a nap in her own bed when Professors McGonagall and Snape came into the room.  
  
"We didn't do anything," Cathrine and Colin said in unison.  
  
McGonagall and Snape gave them a suspicious looks and McGonagall said, "Thank you for that, but I am not here to tell anyone that they are in trouble."  
  
Colin and Cathrine looked at each other knowing that they just caused themselves problems as McGongall continued, "Attention everyone. We are here to announce that the Slytherin common room and several of their other rooms are flooded."  
  
"Oh, we really didn't do that," Colin stated to Cathrine.  
  
McGonagall shook her had and the said, "so students from Slytherin will be sharing space in this house and the other two. It has been decided that first, third, and fifth years will be assigned to Gryffindor. Please help in making them feel welcome. And before any of you ask me how long this arrangement will be, let me just say that until the pipes are fixed in Slytherin the arrangement will continue and I don't know how long that will be. Thank and have a good afternoon."  
  
With that Snape and McGonagall walked out of the room. All of the Gryffindors were stunned.  
  
"I might as well move into the infirmary now?" Rebecca mutter looking down at her left wrist, which had just recently been deemed healed by Madame Pompfrey, and thinking of what years were going to be moving in.  
  
Sara tried to laugh a little at Rebecca's comment and the others started to discuss the bad side of this situation.  
  
Rebecca walked to the stairs to go to her room. She passed Lauren on her way and saw that Lauren was petrified.  
  
"Don't worry about it. Harvey won't try anything while he is here or else one of the guys here will get him," Rebecca said giving Lauren a reassuring smile.  
  
Lauren looked at her and asked, "What if other Slytherins get into it?"  
  
"We only have to put up with 3 years worth. They have 7 years of Gryffindors to deal with."  
  
Lauren smiled and looked relieved as Rebecca went to her room.  
  
Rebecca fell asleep, but woke up soon after because someone jumped off her bed and ran out the door. After trying to fall back to sleep, Rebecca decided to get up and see what was going. She looked down at her hand to discover that there was a new wrap around her wrist that had her fingers bond together. The new wrap was secured with what looked like a smiley face sticker.  
  
"Cathrine," muttered Rebecca with a smile as she walked out the door.  
  
She stopped for a moment outside the door when she noticed that there was a new door to the left of her dorm room door. It was open so she glanced in side and noted that it was decorated in green and silver.  
  
'Looks like we at least won't have to share rooms with them,' Rebecca thought as she continued walking.  
  
She walked down the steps to the common room and looked around for Cathrine. The Slytherin students were moving in so the room was very crowded, but Rebecca located Cathrine on the couch in front of the fire with everyone else. Hiding her hand behind her back, Rebecca walked over.  
  
Cathrine looked over as Rebecca approached and asked in an innocent voice, "So how was your nap?"  
  
"Oh it was good," Rebecca responded. "Um, Cathrine, did you go up to the room while I was asleep?"  
  
Cathrine tried to look as innocent as possible as the rest of the group looked at her and she asked, "Why?"  
  
"Because when I woke up my hand wrapped like this." Rebecca revealed her hand and started to giggle. "I feel like I have a claw now."  
  
"I was just trying to save you a trip to the hospital wing," Cathrine started to chuckle as everyone joined in.  
  
Rebecca took a seat in between Cathrine and Charlie. Cathrine took off the wrap on Rebecca's hand as they all laughed and talked about the benefits of a having a claw.  
  
They were still laughing when Russel, Ryan, Cassie, and the other fifth years came into the room. Ryan and his friends stared at them for a moment, but left to find seats somewhere else in the room.  
  
As the afternoon progress, more and more Gryffindors came over and joined the group until everyone in the house was in the vicinity. Their conversation had turned from Cathrine's prank to Colin and Cathrine's performance that morning.  
  
They both got up and did an encore of it sending everyone into hysterics. Eventually, it turned into a talent show. Aaron Wood brought down his guitar and played while Lauren sang. All the Gryffindors cheered when they finished. Aisha and Carolyn got up and told some jokes, which lead to tears of laughter. The Gryffindors settled down as the girls found places to sit on the floor.  
  
There was a slight pause to see who would be the next to then Cathrine said, "I think Rebecca should be the next to sing."  
  
Rebecca's jaw dropped and she stuttered, "H-how did you know I sing?"  
  
"I heard you one night. I don't even think that you realized you were even sing," Cathrine replied.  
  
It was true that sometimes when Rebecca was by herself that she would start singing without even knowing it especially if she was really concentrating on something like homework, but eventually she always realized that she was and she didn't think she had done that here. She only really remembered singing when she was upset about Charlie being so secretive.  
  
Then it hit Rebecca. 'Cathrine must have made that noise that night that made me stop,' Rebecca thought as several people voiced their agreement with Cathrine's nomination.  
  
"I really don't feel like speaking in front of everyone right now," protested Rebecca nervous enough that she really meant to say 'singing' instead of 'speaking.'  
  
Cathrine caught Rebecca slip and responded, "You're not going to be speaking; you're going to be singing."  
  
"Come on Rebecca sing," encouraged Greg.  
  
"Yeah sing," added Jacquelyn and Sara in unison.  
  
Rebecca looked over at Charlie who was nodding his head for her to go on; for he didn't know she could sing and was dying to hear her now  
  
After taking a deep breath and looking at all of her fellow Gryffindors, Rebecca said, "Okay, I'll sing. . Wood, may I borrow your guitar, please?"  
  
Aaron nodded as he got up to hand her the guitar.  
  
"Okay, I am going to sing a song that I use to sing with my butler. . I am going to try to sing it right, but I always sung harmony so I am not making any promises."  
  
Everyone laughed a little and Rebecca started to play the guitar hesitantly at first since she didn't know whether her wrist would affect her playing, but it didn't seem to so she played on.  
  
As she played the intro she felt some tears form as she remember the last time she sang the song with her beloved butler, so she closed her eyes and sang:  
  
"You got to leave me now, you got to go alone  
  
You got to chase a dream, one that's all your own  
  
Before it slips away  
  
When you're flyin' high, take my heart along  
  
I'll be the harmony to every lonely song That you learn to play  
  
The low buzz that that had been in the room during everyone else's performances died. It seemed that even the Slytherins were in awe off Rebecca's singing voice.  
  
When you're soarin' through the air  
  
I'll be your solid ground  
  
Take every chance you dare  
  
I'll still be there  
  
When you come back down  
  
When you come back down  
  
I'll keep lookin' up, awaitin' your return  
  
My greatest fear will be that you will crash and burn  
  
And I won't feel your fire  
  
I'll be the other hand that always holds the line  
  
Connectin' in between your sweet heart and mine  
  
I'm strung out on that wire  
  
And I'll be on the other end, To hear you when you call  
  
Angel, you were born to fly, If you get too high  
  
I'll catch you when you fall  
  
I'll catch you when you fall  
  
Rebecca continued to play, but looked up at Charlie and gave him a smile. She closed her eyes and started to sing the bridge:  
  
Your memory's the sunshine every new day brings  
  
I know the sky is calling  
  
Angel, let me help you with your wings  
  
When you're soarin' through the air  
  
I'll be your solid ground  
  
Take every chance you dare  
  
'I wonder if she knows how good she is,' Charlie thought to himself as he forced himself to take his eyes off of Rebecca and look at his other housemates. All of them rapt with her performance. Charlie smiled and then turned back to watching Rebecca.  
  
I'll still be there  
  
When you come back down  
  
Take every chance you dare,  
  
I'll still be there  
  
When you come back down  
  
When you come back down"  
  
("When You Come Back Down" By: Nickle Creek)  
  
When Rebecca finished she opened her eyes and through blurry eyes looked at her audience. Everyone was just staring at her in awe.  
  
No one said anything until Charlie whispered, "Wow," and then everyone started to clap and cheer. Rebecca smiled as she gave the guitar back to Aaron and sat back down and wiped her eyes.  
  
It was then Heath's turn to show off his hidden talent. As they all watched Heath show them his juggling ability, Charlie leaned over to Rebecca and whispered, "Got any more secret talents that I don't know about?"  
  
Rebecca looked at him, gave a mischievous smile, and answered, "Yeah, lots. You got any I know don't know about?"  
  
"Yeah lots." They kissed and turned back to Heath as he finished. After a round of applause, Heath sat down and it was time of a new performer. Everyone looked at each other to see who hadn't did anything yet.  
  
Greg said, "Hey Charlie why don't you sing for us." Rebecca turned to Charlie and gave him the same look as he had given to her when she was asked to sing.  
  
Charlie sighed, thought for a moment, and said, "Sure, why not. Captain, come here for a second."  
  
Aaron got up and moved through the crowd to Charlie. Charlie whispered something to Aaron. When Charlie finished, Aaron nodded with a smile and then returned to his seat. Aaron picked up his guitar and started to play.  
  
All eyes turned towards Charlie as he started to sing:  
  
"I'm finding my way back to sanity again  
  
Though I don't really know what I'm gonna do when I get there  
  
I take a breath and hold on tight  
  
Spin around one more time  
  
And gracefully fall back to the arms of grace  
  
Charlie looked right at Rebecca and gave her a wink.  
  
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying  
  
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight  
  
That's alright, alright with me  
  
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside heaven's door  
  
And listen to you breathing  
  
Its where I wanna be, yeah  
  
Where I wanna be  
  
Rebecca sweetly smiled at Charlie who was still looking at her. 'He picked his song probably because of my slip up earlier, but it sounds like what he wanted to say when I was so worried and didn't want to talk about it,' she thought to herself.  
  
I'm looking past the shadows in my mind into the truth  
  
And I'm trying to identify the voices in my head  
  
God wish won't you  
  
Let me feel one more time what if feels like to feel  
  
And break these caluses off me one more time  
  
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying  
  
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight  
  
That's alright, alright with me  
  
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside of your door  
  
And listen to you breathing  
  
Its where I wanna be, yeah  
  
Charlie reached over and tucked a strained of Rebecca's hair behind her ear. At this, the younger girls wished that Charlie was their boyfriend and noticed little thing like a strain of hair in their face and do something about it.  
  
Oh I don't want a thing from you  
  
Bet you're tired of me waiting for  
  
The scraps to fall off of your table to the ground  
  
La da da da...  
  
Cause I just wanna be here now  
  
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying  
  
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight  
  
That's alright, alright with me  
  
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside heaven's door  
  
And listen to you breathing  
  
Its where i wanna be, yeah  
  
Where I wanna be  
  
Charlie took a hold of Rebecca's hand and sang directly to her.  
  
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying  
  
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight  
  
That's alright, alright with me  
  
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside heaven's door  
  
And listen to you breathing  
  
Its where I wanna be, yeah  
  
Where I wanna be"  
  
(Lifehouse's Breathing)  
  
Charlie finished and Rebecca wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a hug as the rest of the crowd cheered for him. Charlie kissed Rebecca and turn to start egging Greg into performing. Rebecca was about to turn around but she saw Ryan and Russel were glaring in Charlie's direction. She turned back to the entertainment wondering what was going through those two's heads.  
  
After Greg got up and told some hysterical stories, Sara was pressured into singing. Everyone from Gryffindor took a turn and then it was time for dinner. They all walked down together to the great hall. All through dinner there was a constant laughter at the Gryffindor table about that afternoon's show.  
  
After dinner they all headed back up and took seats in the common room. There were several different groups of Gryffindor scatter through out the room when the Slytherin group final came up from dinner.  
  
After looking around the room, Ryan loudly voiced, "And where are we suppose seat?" Ryan looked over and saw Rebecca, Charlie, Bill, Greg, and Sara were looking at him.  
  
"Well, we are your guests," Ryan stated directing it towards Rebecca since she had a look on her face that he didn't approve of. Rebecca raised her eyebrows and looked away.  
  
Charlie had feeling that Ryan was trying to pressure Rebecca into something muttered, "It's not like we asked for them to be in here."  
  
Rebecca, Greg, and Sara heard Charlie's statement and shook nodded head in agreement, but Bill who heard it too elbowed Charlie in the ribs to let him know that he needed to settle down.  
  
Ryan noticed the interaction between the Gryffindors and snidely asked, "What was that you said, Weasley?"  
  
Knowing that Ryan was just trying to pick a fight, Rebecca rolled her eyes and looked at Ryan.  
  
"Why don't you just ask someone if you can join them where their sitting?" asked Rebecca giving Ryan a look that told him that he was being over dramatic.  
  
Ryan was a furious at Rebecca for her statement and shot back, "Well it's not like you all were overly friendly with us this afternoon."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Your little all house talent show."  
  
"You could have joined in. All you had to do was walk over and join the group and even if you weren't right in with the group if you would have gotten closer than we would have made you join in."  
  
Ryan was about to say something nasty back at Rebecca when Bill intervened and said, "Listen, we'll try to be more inclusive next time. But you all need to realize that if you want to be included you need to show interest and join in on things that happen at the spur of the moment. No one from this house knew that we were going to be having a talent show this afternoon. If we knew we would have told you about it and let you know that you were welcome to participate, but it wasn't planned and no one had an invitation to join, they all just did. That happens around here so don't complain that you didn't get an invitation when no one else did."  
  
Ryan walked off in a huff. Dan, Sam, and Hans followed him.  
  
Russel on the other hand walked over to the couch where Rebecca, Charlie, and Bill were sitting and asked, "May I take a seat with you?"  
  
They all look at each other and then slowly moved over giving him a seat at the end next to Bill.  
  
"So you obviously don't feel the same way as Malfoy, do you, Flint?" Greg questioned Russel as he took the free seat.  
  
Russel glanced over and saw that everyone was looking at him to see what he was going to say.  
  
"Nope, I think Weasley had the right idea if we want to be included we should be close enough so you guys think we have interest in what is going on." Russel saw to his delight to see Rebecca nodding her head in agreement of what he said when he finished and then asked, "So what were you all talking about?"  
  
Bill, Charlie, Rebecca, Greg, and Sara looked at each other with confused expressions on their face and finally Sara asked, "What were we talking?"  
  
"Um," Greg started. "I think it had to do with hidden talents."  
  
Charlie broke into a smile and said, "Yeah, we were trying to get Rebecca to tell us some more hidden talents that she has."  
  
"No we weren't," protested Rebecca looking at him with big eyes.  
  
Bill started to laugh as Russel asked, "Well, why don't we try now?"  
  
Rebecca looked over to Sara for some help, but she was laughing and wasn't much help.  
  
Suddenly the portrait to the common room open and Lauren ran in with tears streaming down her face. She went straight up the steps not saying anything to anyone along the way.  
  
Sara's laughter stopped the second she saw Lauren going up the stairs. Rebecca and Sara looked at each other for a second. Sara whispered, "Where's.?"  
  
Before Sara could finish, Rebecca turned her head in the direction of Harvey who was sitting on the floor talking to Marcus, Alannah, and the other first year Slytherin students. Sara looked over and saw Harvey. He was staring up the stairs, but he had settled down at that spot when the Slytherins came in after dinner and hadn't moved yet.  
  
Sara and Rebecca looked at each other again and stood up. As they started to walk away, they told the guys that they would be back.  
  
Rebecca and Sara headed up the steps to the first year girls dormitory. They were followed by Aisha and Carolyn who were just as worried about Lauren as they were. The girls knocked on the door and slowly opened the door.  
  
"Lauren?" Rebecca asked as she walked into the room. Lauren raised her head from her pillow and looked at them through her tear filled eyes.  
  
Rebecca and the other girls climbed up onto Lauren's bed as Carolyn asked, "What happened, Lauren?"  
  
"Sean broke up with me," Lauren sniffed.  
  
"What?" the other girls gasped.  
  
"We were walking out from dinner and he just said, 'I think we need more space.' And that was it. He didn't say why or anything. He just said that and then left."  
  
Lauren turned her head back into the pillow and started crying again.  
  
Rebecca patted Lauren on the back and said, "I am sorry about that kid."  
  
"Yeah," added Aisha and Carolyn together.  
  
"Is there anything that we can do for you?" asked Sara.  
  
Lauren shook her head no and said, "I just want to go to bed and not get up until Monday when I have to go to classes."  
  
"Well as nice as that seems, it isn't that practical," Rebecca said. Lauren looked up at her with a puzzled expression as did the other girls. Rebecca continued, "You have to eat sometime and if you're not in the infirmary then you have to go to the Great Hall to get food."  
  
Lauren gave out a sigh and put her head back down. Rebecca looked at Sara and the other girls and shrugged her shoulders.  
  
After a moment Rebecca said, "How about we do something fun tomorrow for breakfast?"  
  
Everyone looked at her wondering what she had in mind.  
  
"Well since tomorrow is Sunday, let's go to breakfast in our pajamas," Rebecca started.  
  
"What?" Lauren asked turning her face from her pillow.  
  
"You don't want to get out of bed, but have to get something to eat, right? So let's all stay in our pajamas tomorrow morning go to breakfast and then afterwards you can go back to bed without even think about it."  
  
Sara started to laugh and soon all the girls were laughing including Lauren.  
  
"That would be great," Lauren finally said.  
  
All the girls smiled and started to talk about the next morning. The girls sat there for about an hour talking as Rebecca French braided Lauren, Carolyn, and Aisha's hair into pigtails.  
  
When Rebecca and Sara felt that Lauren was okay and that Carolyn and Aisha would be okay with her by themselves they went back down to the common room. They found the guys still sitting where they had been but Russel had left the group.  
  
"Hey, we were just starting to form a search team for you two," Bill joked as the girls took their seats.  
  
The girls laughed and Charlie asked, "Is Lauren okay?"  
  
Rebecca looked at Sara and then said, "Yeah, she just suffered her first heartbreak, but I think she'll be fine."  
  
"Poor kid, wish there was some way to cheer her up," Greg commented.  
  
Sara started to smile and said, "Well there is. . We're going to wear our pajamas to breakfast tomorrow, why don't you guys do it too?"  
  
"What?" Charlie asked giving the girls a questioning look.  
  
Rebecca started to explain everything that happened up stairs and Sara added a few comment here and there. By the time the girls were done, the guys were all for staying in their pajamas the next day.  
  
"I think is it a good idea. We should get everyone in on it." Bill said as Percy came over to ask him a question. Percy was told about the 'dress code' for breakfast and to tell his friends about it.  
  
As Percy left, Cathrine, Colin, James, and Jacquelyn walked over and joined the group. Immediately they were informed on Lauren's situation and the event planned for the next day.  
  
"That's a great idea. I have to go tell Anna," Cathrine said as she rushed off to tell Anna who was with A.J. and some other seventh and sixth year Gryffindors. Jacquelyn got up and informed some other groups as James walked up to a group of third years that were playing wizards chess. In a matter of a half of an hour, all of the Gryffindor student knew the plan and were excited for breakfast.  
  
Carolyn and Aisha came back downstairs to tell Rebecca that Lauren had fallen asleep when they were informed that everyone was in on the pajama plan.  
  
"Lauren will love it," said Carolyn.  
  
Aisha added, "Yeah, know she won't feel like we stick out of the house."  
  
Cathrine came back after talking to Anna with a smile, but suddenly had a puzzled look on her face.  
  
"What's the matter with you, Smiley?" Colin asked.  
  
"Aisha, how did you get your hair up in braids like that when your hair is short?" Catherine asked not paying attention to what Colin said.  
  
Aisha smiled and said, "Rebecca casted a spell that made my hair grow longer as she braided."  
  
Everyone turned and looked at Rebecca.  
  
"What? It will go back to the way it was when she takes her hair out of the braid," she told everyone as if she was in trouble.  
  
Charlie shook his head and said, "No, we want to know how you knew how to do that?"  
  
"Oh, um, well I have been doing it for years. I found the spell one day in the library at my old school by chance and thought that it was an interesting spell so I copied it down. I didn't use it for several months and then my best friend, Stacy, got some gunk right in her hair. Needless to say, it had to get cut out and she had this really short hair cut from it. It was a cute hair cut, but some people made fun of her which made Stacy miss her long black hair. So I pulled out the spell and tried it. After the first time, I got the hang of it and started doing it on my hair too." Rebecca explained as more girls came over to see Aisha's hair.  
  
"Why your own hair?" asked Jacquelyn looking at Rebecca's shoulder length hair.  
  
"Well, until last year I always keep my hair cut up to my chin, sometimes shorter, so to get different styles at school I would cast the spell and as I arranged it," Rebecca replied.  
  
"So you could do that to my hair?" asked a blonde haired first year girl by the name of Beth. Rebecca shook her head and motioned for Beth to come over so she could French braid her short hair.  
  
After she finished, every girl in the house wanted their hair braided.  
  
"You should make that part of tomorrow's dress code," Colin said as Cathrine's hair was being braided.  
  
Russel walked over to see what is going on and asked, "What dress code?"  
  
All the Gryffindors turned and looked at him wondering who was going to tell him what was going on. Bill took charge and responded, "We are going to go to breakfast in our pajamas tomorrow morning. Any Slytherins that want to join us are more than welcome to."  
  
Russel looked over at Rebecca to see if she was looking to see how he was going to respond, but she had already turned back to braiding Cathrine's hair.  
  
"I'll think about it," Russel said as he walked away. Rebecca gave a sigh of relief when Russel was far away.  
  
"You okay?" Charlie whispered to her.  
  
Rebecca turned to him and whispered back, "Yeah, I just don't feel that comfortable around you know who. Truth be told I was glad when I left to check on Lauren and came back and he was gone."  
  
"Don't worry he can't do anything to you in here."  
  
Rebecca gave a slight smile and shook her head understanding that the guys of Gryffindor were watching out for her. She went back to braiding hair and didn't finish until late at night. The last head she did was her own and then she went to bed. 


	14. Pranks

Rebecca awoke the next morning to a throbbing pain in her wrist. 'Great I over did it yesterday with braiding everyone's hair.' she thought as she got up and got the medicine Madame Pomfrey gave her. All the other girls were getting up and finding their slippers to go to breakfast. Rebecca found her slippers, a gray bandana, and her gray zip up hooded sweatshirt, and headed down stairs. The common room was full of Gryffindors in their pajamas waiting to go down stairs for breakfast. For the most part the guys were wearing colorful pajama pants and tee-shirts with the sleeves cut out or tank tops.  
  
The girls wore pajama pants also, but their tops varied from tee-shirts to tank tops to spaghetti strap tanks and most had a zip up sweatshirt of some type to wear. When she entered the common room, Rebecca was tying her bandana on to her head to cover up the fact that she wasn't taking her hair out of the braids she had slept in. Charlie walked down the steps shortly behind her. He had blue and green plaid pajama pants on with a grey tank.  
  
"Good morning, beautiful," he said to Rebecca looking at her in her gray plaid pants and crimson spaghetti strap top as she pulled on her gray sweatshirt.  
  
"Morning, Handsome," Rebecca said giving him a kiss.  
  
Greg walked over in his red pants and white tee-shirt and said, "I think as soon as Sara comes down all of us fifth years will be up and we can start down to breakfast together. There's a group of first years who are waiting over there for some older students to go first."  
  
Greg pointed over to the door to a group that included Lauren, Aisha, Carolyn, Percy, Beth, and Oliver. Rebecca smiled to see Lauren out of bed and that her friends joined in with the pajama breakfast.  
  
"Well Sara should be down in a minute or two. She was getting out of bed when I left the room," Rebecca said looking at the steps.  
  
A moment later, Sara walked down in her blue cloud covered tank and pants set and asked, "So when does this show start?"  
  
"Right now, let's go get something to eat," Charlie responded heading them towards the door.  
  
Cathrine in her smile face pants and matching tank top and Colin in his rainbow tie-dyed pants with a red sleeveless tee followed along with James in his navy blue tee and gray pajama pants and Jacquelyn in her purple spaghetti strap pajama set. The group with Lauren followed after them with the other years following after them.  
  
Down at the Great Hall, the other house tables were full and already eating. There were many rumors flying around about why the Gryffindor table was completely empty. One was that the students were being punished because they had refused to share common space with any Slytherins. Another was that the Slytherins staying with the Gryffindors had slipped a sleeping potion into the Gryffindor's food or drink so that they were all still asleep.  
  
Russel who hadn't taken the time to tell anyone of the invitation that Bill had extended was the only one that knew that the Gryffindors were going to arrive in their pajamas this morning and had a feeling that they would all show up together. He was right. Once Rebecca and Charlie opened the doors of the Great Hall and came in, there was a steady stream of students come in until all the seats at the table were filled. Students from Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin stopped eating as they looked at what the Gryffindors were wearing. The Gryffindor students didn't seem to notice, they went on with breakfast as normal, talking and laughing all through the meal.  
  
Most of the students from the other house chuckled at the Gryffindor students and then went back to eating. Ryan on the other hand just stared at Rebecca and didn't touch another bit of his breakfast. Even Cassie couldn't distract him, he just kept staring until he suddenly said, "That's it!" and got up and left the hall.  
  
After breakfast all the Gryffindors headed up to the common room together. Once inside they all milled around wondering what to do next until some of the Slytherin students came in talking about what homework they had to do.  
  
Bill looked over at Rebecca and Charlie who were making a face at the thought of all the homework and said, "I guess we were having so much fun this weekend that we forgot we were in school."  
  
Rebecca smiled as she nodded her head at Bill and then turned to Charlie to say, "Guess we better get started."  
  
Charlie and Rebecca went up to their rooms to get their books. Rebecca walked into her room and saw a letter on her bed. She picked up the letter and saw it was from Stacy.  
  
Dear Rebecca,  
  
I am so glad that you and Charlie got together. He sounds like he is a really great guy. The type you really deserve to be with. I have some news that I need to tell you. I had actually been putting it off for some time, because I didn't know how to tell you. But now I need to tell you now before someone else does. Ben is dating Sydney. I know you and Ben were close, but with you not here Sydney was able to turn his head. They actually didn't get together until this week, but they had been hanging out since Christmas. I should have told you early about instead of spring it all on you at once. Sorry.  
  
I have to get going to class, but I wanted to get this letter to you before Sydney tires to rub your face in it.  
  
Later,  
  
Stacy  
  
Rebecca looked at the letter. 'What was Stacy trying to protect me from? Ben and I were never anything and he told me that he like Sydney. Yes, she may not be my favorite person, but Ben can hang out or go out with whoever he wants!' Rebecca thought to herself half upset at Ben for dating Sydney and half upset that Stacy thought that she needed to protect her from something that should have been considered trivial.  
  
She was about to throw the letter back onto bed when she saw something move across her bed. It was a snake. Rebecca gasped and backed out of the room with the letter still in her hand.  
  
As she walked backwards down the steps, the snake slithered down towards her. Russel was sitting down at a table facing the stairs working on some homework for charms class when he saw Rebecca backing into the room. She was shaking really hard, so Russel got up to see what gotten her so physical upset.  
  
"What's the matter, Rebecca?" he asked as Rebecca backed right into him.  
  
Russel put his arms around her as Rebecca stammered out, "S-s-s-snake."  
  
Everyone in the room was looking at Rebecca and then looked at the stairs to see a snake heading down the stairs. Rebecca tried to get farther away, but Russel blocked her way.  
  
"Let go of me," Rebecca cried as while she struggled to get out of his arms without taking a step closer to the snake.  
  
"Don't worry, I won't let it get you," Russel whispered to her trying to calm her down.  
  
Rebecca struggled a little more until she heard laughter. She looked over to see Ryan laughing at her as he walked over and picked up the snake.  
  
"Is Rebecca still afraid of a little old snake?" he asked as he walked over to her with the snake. Ryan put the snake eye level and close to Rebecca's face, causing her to turn her head into Russel's chest.  
  
Russel squeezed her a little to try to let her know that he was still there and demanded, "Malfoy, what are you doing?"  
  
Ryan glared at Russel for a minute and then said, "Just having a little fun and practicing some transfiguration."  
  
With that, he switched the snake into a shoelace. Rebecca gasped and put her hand up to her mouth. She was still shaking violently and could only stare at Ryan as he laughed at her.  
  
Charlie came down the stairs to see Russel with his arms around Rebecca. He rushed over about to deck Russel until he noticed how much Rebecca was shaking.  
  
"What is going?" he asked touching Rebecca's shoulder.  
  
Russel started to explain what happened as Rebecca walked into Charlie's arms. Everyone in the room, even Russel, noticed that as soon as Charlie touched Rebecca she stopped shaking. After he finished telling what happened, Russel started to walk away.  
  
"Flint," Charlie said stopping Russel. "Thanks for helping Rebecca out."  
  
"It was nothing," Russel said and he continued to walk away.  
  
Charlie walked Rebecca over to the couch and sat her down. Sara, Cathrine, and Jacquelyn crowded around her as the other guys surrounded Charlie.  
  
"Rebecca, are you okay?" Sara asked.  
  
"I will as soon as I figure out how to get him back," Rebecca responded glaring over her shoulder at Ryan.  
  
Cathrine smiled as she leaned in and asked, "What do you have in mind?"  
  
"I don't know yet. Let me think about it," Rebecca said as she turned back to the girls.  
  
Jacquelyn piped in, "Cathrine, don't you have any plans in reserve that might work for this situation?"  
  
"Let me go see if I have any in my notebook," Cathrine said as she got up to retrieve her book.  
  
As the girls were talking the guys were discussing what happened. "Okay guys what happened?" asked Charlie wanting to check the truth of the story Russel told him.  
  
"Rebecca came, backing down the stairs scared to death. She was shaking just as bad as when you saw when you came down the stair. We all were heading over to get her, but Flint was already there," James explained.  
  
"Do you think Malfoy and Flint worked together on this?" questioned Charlie.  
  
Greg shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know, but when you look at everything that Flint has done, it sure seems that he could have been."  
  
Just then Cathrine rushed by headed towards the stairs.  
  
Colin stared at her and asked, "Wonder where she is off to?"  
  
"Probably to set a prank up for Malfoy," Greg said offhand. "I think we all need to keep an eye on Rebecca and stay closer than we were while the Slytherins are here."  
  
"Yeah. I wish I could be around her all the time to make sure that she is okay, but I can't always be around and even if you guys jumped in when I am not around she is not going to take being surrounded all the time when she may not feel the threat that we see," Charlie said.  
  
James looked over at Rebecca and said, "What if she doesn't know that we are doing it?"  
  
"What's your plan, Einstein?" Colin asked curious of what sneaky thing James had in mind.  
  
"Well," James started, "Rebecca is use to us being around and hanging out with her and having spontaneous things happening. Why don't we just keep an eye out and when we see Flint or Malfoy coming near her we either walk over to get her to move some how or get her attention so she walks away without knowing that she was getting close to being in danger? . Getting the girls in with this might be vital. And of course, we will have to make it important enough that she doesn't start ignoring us, but as long as we make everything seem normal it should work."  
  
Charlie and Greg nodded their in agreement, but Colin who was all for the plan had to add, "Shouldn't there be a prank involved, though?"  
  
The guys laughed and shook their heads at him. Cathrine passed by the guys and looked over to see what they thought was so funny.  
  
As she walked over to the girls on the couch, Professor McGonagall walked into the common room, causing Cathrine to stop in her tracks.  
  
"Is there a reason why all of you are still in your pajamas?" started McGonagall. "Don't you think it is about time that you all changed?"  
  
All the Gryffindors looked at each other wondering whether they were going to get a bigger lecture especially with all the Slytherins around.  
  
Bill took lead and said, "We were just about to."  
  
"Very well," McGonagall said and she left without anyone even making a move to go upstairs.  
  
"Must have been for show," Bill muttered as he walked past Rebecca towards Charlie.  
  
When Bill came over to talk to Charlie, he was told about everything the guys had been discussing. Bill agreed to keep and eye out for Rebecca. As the guys figured out their strategy for keeping Rebecca safe, the girl were looking through Cathrine's notebook of pranks.  
  
"Wow," Rebecca whispered. "Some of these are really intricate."  
  
Cathrine started to quietly explain some of her ideas, when she caught sight of Ryan staring at them.  
  
"I think we better do this later," Cathrine said slowly shutting the book so that it wasn't obvious why she was doing it. Everyone shook their heads in agreement.  
  
"What's that?" Jacquelyn asked looking at the crumpled piece of paper in Rebecca's hand.  
  
"Oh that is just a letter I was reading when I saw the snake," Rebecca responded looking down at the letter.  
  
"What did Stacy say?" Sara asked knowing that Stacy was the only person who sent her letters to the dorm room.  
  
"Not much," Rebecca said fidgeting with the letter. "She just wanted to let me know that Ben was dating Sydney."  
  
"Who's Ben?" Jacquelyn asked taking the letter from Rebecca so it didn't get any more tattered than it already was.  
  
"He was your best guy friend at your old school, right?" Sara asked.  
  
Rebecca nodded her head sort of surprised that Sara had remembered since she had only ever spoken of Ben once and in a passing conversation. She really hadn't wanted to tell anyone on here about him, but the girls were going to start asking all about him.  
  
"So what was he like?" Cathrine curiously asked.  
  
"What was who like?" Charlie asked walking over with the other guys.  
  
"Ben, one of Rebecca's old friends," Sara timidly answered.  
  
"Oh," Charlie whispered.  
  
"So, what was he like?" Greg asked knowing that Charlie might feel better after Rebecca talked about the guy.  
  
"Um, well, now that I think about it he was a lot like Malfoy actually. He was my Malfoy replacement when I first went to Beauxbaton, I guess," Rebecca said watching for Charlie's reactions.  
  
"Like Malfoy? Would he have done what Malfoy did today?" asked Greg.  
  
Rebecca thought for a moment and soberly said, "Yeah, he would have. If he was trying to get at someone for something, then he would use any weakness to do it and that is exactly what Malfoy did."  
  
"Who's Sydney, then?" Sara asked wondering if Ben was like Ryan then would Sydney be like Cassie.  
  
"Well, she was a girl who knew Ben before us all went to school," Rebecca started. "She and Ben were put into different houses and she didn't like that at all. Then Ben started to talk to me and that sent her over the edge. I think if Cassie didn't think Malfoy and I were cousins then she would treat me like Sydney did."  
  
"Where did Cassie get that idea?" Colin asked.  
  
Rebecca thought and said, "I don't know whether she jumped to the conclusion herself and Ryan let her believe it or whether Ryan hinted at it first, but I just went with it because I really didn't feel like having another enemy for nothing more than an friendship that didn't mean anything more to me than that."  
  
"So she said it to you first?" laughed Cathrine. Rebecca nodded.  
  
"She will flip out if she ever finds out the contrary," continued Cathrine laughing at what she imagined what Cassie's reaction would be. Everyone else started to laugh when they thought of what Cassie would do.  
  
Bill came over to see what was going, but no one wanted to tell him so they changed the subject as they got up and headed to their rooms to get dressed.  
  
The guys rushed around so that they were dressed and back down in the common room before Rebecca made it back down. The girls on the other hand first searched their room for any more surprises that Ryan might have left before they started to change.  
  
Rebecca found a box at the foot of her bed, but didn't want to touch it. Cathrine walked over to the box and flipped it so that Rebecca could read that it was from Stacy and not a surprise left by Malfoy.  
  
"It must have come with the letter and you didn't see it because you didn't walk past this side of your bed," Cathrine suggested.  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca agreed picking up the box to open it.  
  
Jacquleyn looked over and asked, "What's in it?"  
  
Rebecca opened the box and looked in side.  
  
"Oh, it's candy!" Rebecca said pulling out four bags of rainbow colored rock candy.  
  
After she got the bags out, Rebecca saw that there was a note at the bottom of the box.  
  
Rebecca,  
  
Mom sent this here for you. She forgot that you weren't going to school here anymore. (Parents can be so forgetful ) Anyways, I know you love this stuff so I am sending it on. Enjoy!  
  
Stacy  
  
"That was nice of her," Sara said reading over Rebecca's shoulder. Rebecca smiled in agreement.  
  
"Look at all of these colors. Wonder what all the flavors are?" Cathrine said staring at one of the bags.  
  
Rebecca responded, "Cathrine, this is muggle candy. The reds taste like cherry. Pinks are watermelon, blues are blueberry, and greens are spearmint. The blacks ones are licorice and the yellow ones are lemon. Orange tastes like orange while the purples are grape. Stacy's mom makes them and those are the flavors and color combinations she always uses."  
  
"Can I try a piece?" asked Sara.  
  
Rebecca opened a bag as she answered, "Yeah, you all can have a piece. I think there is enough of everyone in our house including our 'guests.' Just fair warning, your tongue might change colors from the candy."  
  
Jacquelyn looked at her in disbelief as she said, "Really?"  
  
"Yeah, I went around on summer with a blue tongue because I always had a piece in my mouth."  
  
Catrhrine smiled at the idea of a blue tongue and then inquired, "Do you think that you could have your skin change colors if you eat enough?"  
  
Jacquelyn shook her head, but Rebecca looked at Cathrine with an intrigued expression on her face.  
  
"That's an idea," Rebecca muttered.  
  
"What is?" asked Cathrine wondering what she started.  
  
Rebecca started to smile a smile that was similar to the one that Cathrine would get when she came up with a new prank.  
  
"Cathrine," Rebecca started. "You wouldn't have by any chance have smuggled any of the rainbow potion out of class?"  
  
Cathrine looked at her suspiciously and slowly responded, "Yeah, why?"  
  
"Well, we coat the candy with it and give it to Ryan then his skin will turn colors. Well actually we will probably be getting all the Slytherins, but that is a mood point."  
  
"Oh, I love it." Cathrine rushed off to her bed to find the bottle with the potion in it.  
  
"Rebecca, how are we going to get Ryan and the others to eat it?" Sara asked.  
  
"We use Russel."  
  
"What?"  
  
"We need to cover our trail right?"  
  
"Obviously," chimed in Cathrine, "I don't think you guys would like detention."  
  
"Right," chuckled Rebecca. "So in order that we don't get detention, we give the candy to Russel and he passes it out to the Slytherin students. But so that they don't trace anything back to us we will also pass out good candy to Gryffindor. Cathrine, you and Jacquelyn will pass out to our house. If you give anything to the Slytherin's, they will know exactly what happened when they change colors. . Let's face our house is going to be apprehensive about taking candy from you, Cathrine, that's why it is important that you tell everyone the candy is from me. Jacquelyn, everyone will believe you so make sure that you tell everyone even if Cathrine has already. No offense, Cathrine."  
  
"None taken."  
  
"Sara you and I are going to get the candy to Russel. They will be so confused when their skins change and ours doesn't that they won't know what happened."  
  
"That's great!" squealed Cathrine.  
  
"Looks like you thought of everything," Jacquelyn stated impressed about how fast Rebecca thought of all of details of this plan.  
  
"When do you want to do it?" Sara asked Rebecca.  
  
"Tonight."  
  
"Don't you think that would tip then off?"  
  
"They won't think we had time to get all of this together. In fact if it wasn't for Cathrine keeping some of the potion we wouldn't be able to just come down the stairs with the tainted candy."  
  
"You know you're right. Let's get started."  
  
The girls got just enough candy for the Slytherin coated and then got dressed. Cathrine and Jacquelyn started down the stairs before Sara and Rebecca and headed straight towards James, Greg, Charlie, and Bill to pass out the good candy.  
  
Sara and Rebecca hit the bottom of the steps to see that Russel and Ryan were looking to see what the other girls were doing. After a quick smile to each other, the girls started to walk past the Slytherin group towards a group of third year Gryffindors.  
  
"I like the blue ones and the green ones. They're the best," Rebecca stated to Sara hoping to get someone's attention from Slytherin.  
  
She didn't have to wait long, because a moment later Russel asked, "Hey, Rebecca what do you have there?"  
  
Russel and Cassie had gotten up and walked over to the girls.  
  
"Oh, my friend Stacy sent me candy that her mother made. She sent way too much. I will never be able to able to eat it all before it goes bad, so I am passing it out. . Would you like a piece?" Rebecca asked trying not to sound too eager to get him to take a piece.  
  
Russel smiled and said, "Yeah."  
  
Russel took a green piece and popped it into his mouth as Cassie took a red piece.  
  
"Why don't you take this bag and pass it out to the other Slytherin students, so we don't miss anyone on accident and get in trouble for not including everyone?"  
  
"Sure." Russel took the bag of tainted candy from Rebecca's hand and started to pass out the candy.  
  
"Rebecca, wasn't your ring all silver?" Cassie said grabbing Rebecca's hand and inspecting the ring.  
  
"Yeah?" Rebecca responded trying to see what Cassie was looking at. It took a moment but then Rebecca saw that the rose bloom had a slight red tint to in and the band was starting to turn green. "Oh my ring is changing colors."  
  
"Are you going to get a new one?" Russel asked with an urgent tone in his voice.  
  
Rebecca was confused by Russel and could only answer, "No, if it changes back then I'll ask Charlie to transfigure it for me again."  
  
Rebecca and Sara walked away and started passing out the candy. Sara impressed that they had Russel in the plan already, since they really thought that they were going to have to do a little more than just walk by Russel once. Rebecca on the other hand was taken back by Russel's interest in her ring and whether she would keep it with it not being in its original state anymore.  
  
After all the candy was passed out, the girls went and took seats by the guys so they could start their homework.  
  
"You know that was really nice of you sharing your candy, Rebecca," said Bill as he walked past the group on his way out of the room.  
  
Rebecca smiled at him and said, "Oh, I had too much to not share. I just hope everyone liked it."  
  
Charlie chimed in, "I am sure everyone did, Slytherins included." The tone in his voice went harsh as he spoke of the guests in the rooms.  
  
"I can't believe you shared with Ryan after what he did," Colin stated as he continued with his homework.  
  
The girls looked at each other and smiled mischeviously.  
  
"What is going on?" asked Greg and Charlie in unison causing Colin and James to look up from their books.  
  
The girls put on innocent faces and answered together, "Nothing."  
  
"Yeah, and I am going to get the best marks on the next potion test," said Colin sarcastically.  
  
"Come on what is going on?" asked Charlie looking Rebecca straight in the eyes.  
  
"You'll see," Rebecca responded quietly and she quickly turned to her homework.  
  
Greg and Charlie looked at each other with 'What did they do?' looks on their faces.  
  
"What do you mean?" whispered Charlie to Rebecca.  
  
"Just what I said," she responded. "We need to get this done before you all have to go to practice."  
  
Rebecca tapped on her potions book as she said this. Charlie sighed and returned to his books wondering what Rebecca had done.  
  
The group continued to work with a few more interruption like going downstairs for meals until Charlie, Greg, and Catherine picked up their books to put them away so they could go to practice. James, Jacquelyn, Colin, and Sara started to put things away as Lauren came up to Rebecca to ask for help with her Defense Against the Dark Arts homework. Rebecca walked back with Lauren and sat down at the table Lauren was at.  
  
Eventually, more and more first years came over to get help. Some Slytherin students came over as well including Harvey, Alannah, and Marcus. Soon there were too many students for Rebecca to help by herself. She excused herself from the group to get some help. Jacquelyn was the first person Rebecca talked to.  
  
After Jacquelyn agreed to help, Rebecca spotted James walking down the stairs. She walked over to the foot of the steps and said, "James, can you do me a favor?"  
  
"Sure, what is it?" James responded.  
  
"Will you assist Jacquelyn and I in helping the first years with their Defense homework?"  
  
"I would love to."  
  
"Thank you!"  
  
Rebecca wrapped her arms around his neck as James said, "But I have to make rounds. You know prefect stuff."  
  
"Noooooo, you have to help us," said Rebecca not letting go in hopes that she could keep him from moving. James however just had to stand up a little straighter to lift Rebecca off of the ground and started to walk towards the portrait.  
  
"No you can't go. Think of the first years, they need you. They need some one smart and um, um, Jacquelyn I need help buttering him up," Rebecca tried to protest but ended up laughing.  
  
"They'll be fine and I am sure you can find some one else to help Jacquelyn and you." James set her down in the middle of the room as Jacquelyn walked up to help convince him to help. "And I am sure you two can do it without making such a big scene. I'll see you two later."  
  
He gave Jacquelyn a kiss and walked the rest of the way to the door as Jacquelyn said with a laugh, "Fine, just leave us here."  
  
Both girls started to laugh.  
  
"Okay who else could help?" Rebecca started still laughing. "A.J. is at practice so he's out. We don't want to ask Colin, because he will convince them that werewolves thrive on first year students."  
  
Jacquelyn shook her head in agreement as she continued to laugh.  
  
Rebecca thought for a moment and then it hit her. "Why don't we ask Bill?"  
  
"Great idea," Jacquelyn said. "Where's he at?"  
  
Rebecca looked around the room and finally said, "I think he is up in his room. Let's go get him."  
  
"How about you go get him and I start helping the first years?"  
  
"Yeah I am sure that they are starting to think I abandoned them." And with that, Rebecca headed up the stairs.  
  
Rebecca came to Bill's room and knocked on the door. After a moment, she opened the door slightly to see if Bill was even there. Rebecca looked around the room and saw Bill lying on his bed. She wasn't sure whether Bill was asleep or not, but she had a terrible urge to go jump on his bed and startle him. Rebecca swung the door open, ran over, and jumped onto the bed.  
  
"Bill!" she exclaimed as she landed on to the bed. "Wake up!"  
  
She had very intention to get right off the bed and had even turned to jump off the bed, but Bill surprised her by taking her legs out from under her. Rebecca let out a little scream as she fell back on to the bed. Looking at each other, Bill and Rebecca started to laugh.  
  
"What did you want?" Bill asked through his laughter.  
  
Rebecca sat up and started to explain, "The first years need help with their homework. There is a lot more than usual with Slytherin students being in the common room. So can you come and help them with Jacquelyn and me?"  
  
Still chuckling, Bill got off the bed and started to walk out of the room as he said, "No," in a joking tone.  
  
Rebecca hopped off the bed and followed him down the step.  
  
"You have to help Bill," Rebecca laughed as she hopped on to his back. Bill continued down the steps giving Rebecca a piggy back ride. Russel gave them a strange look as they passed him on the steps still laughing. Both of them continued to laugh as the entered the common room, causing all the students in the room to look at them.  
  
When they reach the table with Jacquelyn and the first years that wanted help, Bill let go of Rebecca's legs so that she could get down. The two of them were starting to settle down when Jacquelyn asked, "There was a scream, what happened up stairs?"  
  
Rebecca and Bill looked at each other with a surprised look and started laughing even harder than before. Obviously, Rebecca's little scream wasn't as little as she or even Bill thought it was.  
  
After a minute, they settled back down and told Jacquelyn what happened. Jacquelyn laughed a little, but quickly got them on task of getting the first years the help had asked for.  
  
"Oh and before I forget Chelsea Drown said that she would help. She walked past here and I asked her if she would help," Jacquelyn informed Rebecca and Bill.  
  
"Oh that's good. Where is she?" asked Rebecca.  
  
"She had to drop her books off in her dorm room. She should be down really soon." Just then the fourth year with short blonde hair and green eyes appeared on the steps.  
  
As she walked over she over to the group, Chelsea adjusted how her glasses sat on her face and said, "Hi, thanks for giving me the opportunity to help out."  
  
"No problem looks like any help here will be appreciated," Bill simply stated before he turned to Marcus and started to answer his question. Rebecca smiled at Chelsea, but couldn't say too much because Lauren and Carolyn were already bombarding her with questions.  
  
The four got all the questions answered that were posed to them. After the last student had their homework done, Bill and Rebecca sat down at the table and began to talk as Jacquelyn headed out of the room to find James and Chelsea went to meet her boyfriend, who was the cute Hufflepuff keeper, Matt Graham.  
  
They sat there for only a few minutes discussing a book Bill had on defense against the dark arts that Rebecca hadn't read yet, when Russel came walking up to them and asked, "Rebecca, since you have your homework done, could you help me with my potion's homework?"  
  
Rebecca's eyes got really big and Bill was ready to step in so she wouldn't have to spend time with Russel, but Rebecca said, "We had potions homework?"  
  
With that, Rebecca got up and sped up to her room to get her books.  
  
Bill started to chuckle and called up after her, "Only you Rebecca."  
  
"What is that suppose to mean?" Russel questioned he was slightly upset because was going to ask if he could do his homework with Rebecca, but she was already up the steps and gone before he could get the words out.  
  
Bill looked Russel straight in the eyes and soberly said, "Nothing, she just always get so involved with helping the first years that when someone mentions her homework she flips out and forgets that she has already done it. I think Colin said something to her three of four times this term and every time it is the same reaction."  
  
Bill started laughing again and got up to return upstairs leaving Russel standing there by himself.  
  
"I don't get what she sees in them," Russel muttered to himself as Ryan walked up to him.  
  
"Neither do I," Ryan stated.  
  
Russel looked over and sighed. Ryan had never seen Russel like this.  
  
'Is it me or is Russel looking alittle green? He looks like he is going to be sick from seeing Rebecca with Bill and she is dating Charlie. Poor guy got it bad,' Ryan thought as he said, "Don't worry she'll see through him eventually."  
  
"No, she won't, especially after the little stunt you pulled this morning. She just found out that Charlie's touch comforts her thanks to you," Russel fiercely responded.  
  
"Yeah, well, look at it as a step to you getting back into her good graces. All I need to do is get her to start reminiscing about certain things about our childhood and she'll forgive me for what I did, but you really didn't have anything like that until today. She saw that you would stand up against your friends for her. Heck, if I hadn't been trying to get back at Rebecca for changing so much, then you wouldn't have came to her rescue and she wouldn't have been civil with you when you asked her about that candy she gave you."  
  
Russel nodded his head. He hadn't seen it that way, maybe if he kept that up then he would become close to Rebecca and she would forget about the horrible things he had done before.  
  
'If I could have controlled my temper at the dance, she would have never gotten scared of me and I wouldn't have to do anything. No more calculating things. Rebecca responds better if we are together by chance,' thought Russel as he walked away from Ryan.  
  
Though she had remembered as she hit the first step on her way up to her room that she had already done her potions homework, she went upstairs anyways so that she didn't have to help Russel with his. He knew that if asked that she would help. It wasn't in her nature to not even if she didn't care for the person and she was afraid that Russel might exploit it.  
  
Rebecca finally decided that it had to be safe after she sat in her room and wrote Stacy a letter. She walked down the stairs, but didn't step off of the last step. Rebecca looked around but didn't see any of her friends in the common room.  
  
Russel saw Rebecca and was about to get up and try to talk to her, but Rebecca turned around and headed back up the stairs before he could even start to get up. She climbed the stairs to Bill's room.  
  
After knocking on the door, Bill opened the door and let her in.  
  
"What's up?" he asked as he plopped back onto his bed and picked up a book.  
  
Rebecca climbed up and sat Indian style on the bed as she stated, "I went downstairs and no one was there that I wanted to talk to."  
  
"Oh so you came to talk to me." Bill gave her a funny smile that was half joking and half 'I am either really special or really low on your list of people you want to talk to.'  
  
"Though that is a very good, um, option," Rebecca joked. "I actually came up to see if you would lend me that Defense book that you had been telling me about."  
  
Rebecca said this as she took a pillow and stuck it so between her back and the bed post she was closest to.  
  
"You know for someone that just came up to get a book you're making your self awfully comfortable," Bill laughed as he got up to get the book Rebecca wanted. Rebecca mischievously smiled and continued making herself comfortable.  
  
Bill handed her the book and sat back on his bed so that he was facing Rebecca. He didn't say anything, but he was glad that she came up, especially since Rebecca inferred that none of Charlie's friends were in the common room to watch over her.  
  
What Bill didn't know was that Rebecca was also glad that he was letting her stay; she really didn't want to be in the common room with Ryan or Russel without at least one of the guys around. She was going to keep herself safe.  
  
After a bit, Bill looked from his book at Rebecca who was absorbed in the book she was looking at. He sat there and just looked at her until he finally asked, "Becca, how did you get interested in defense against the dark arts?"  
  
Rebecca looked up and thought for a moment.  
  
"I really don't know," she finally said. "There has always been something calling me to it. I mean I have always been a natural at it, but even before I knew that I was interested in it. . I have a feeling that something bad must have happened to my parents that I really don't know about and that is why I devour anything to do with defense."  
  
"You don't know how your parents died?" Bill was shocked he thought that she knew but just didn't want everyone to know and ask her questions about it.  
  
"No, I don't. . I have been getting pieces of what happened, but I haven't figured out anything concrete yet. I thought for a while that I knew because all of the clues pointed one way, but then I started getting the different pieces and my theory didn't work anymore. The funny part is that the old clues and the new ones fit together it just takes me to different conclusions."  
  
There was a brief pause after Rebecca finished and Bill found himself pondering out loud, "How old were you when they died?" He felt bad for asking so he quickly added, "Sorry. I don't mean to pry."  
  
"Oh that's okay," Rebecca said trying to make him less worried about offending her. "I think I was about three, though I can't really say for sure. All I know is that I really don't have any memories of my parents and so I wasn't too old when it happened."  
  
"Do you think you will ever know?"  
  
"Yeah, eventually, I'll put it all together, but until then I'll continued to study defense without knowing why I like it so much," Rebecca responded with a smile and then went back to the book in her lap. Bill just stared at her.  
  
'Wow no wonder Charlie says that she is the bravest person he knows. She knows nothing of her past and look at how she deals with it. I know she has had her moments where she is scared, but all of us do and if I had to go through what she has I don't know whether I would be in that good of shape,' he thought to himself as he turned back to his book.  
  
The two sat down there for another hour until Bill said that he needed to go on rounds. Rebecca slipped off his bed and headed out the door with Bill's book. She knew that practice wasn't over so Charlie, Greg, and Cathrine weren't back yet. James and Jacquelyn were probably in the library arguing over some piece of homework that they didn't agree upon and Colin was probably searching for a passage around the castle for a prank.  
  
'Maybe Lauren is still in her room,' Rebecca thought as she headed to the first year girl's dormitory.  
  
After knocking on the door and getting no answer, Rebecca pushed open the door to see that no one was in the room. She decided that Lauren must be in the common room so she headed down resolved that if she didn't see Lauren she was heading right back up the stairs and staying in her room until one of her friends came to get her.  
  
Rebecca walked down the steps and saw Lauren writing as she sat on the couch by the fire, so she headed over to see how Lauren was doing. As she stepped off the last stair, she passed Russel who was shoving a piece of paper in his pocket.  
  
'That looks suspicious,' Rebecca thought to herself but quickly forgot about it as she approached Lauren and saw that Lauren was out of her pajamas.  
  
"Hey, you're dressed," Rebecca said with a big smile. She was really glad to see Lauren out of bed.  
  
"Yeah, after breakfast this morning, I felt a lot better about everything. Percy and Oliver walked with me to and from breakfast and glared at Sean when he tried to come up and talk to me," Lauren giggled.  
  
Rebecca rolled her eyes as she took a seat next to Lauren.  
  
Lauren looked over and saw the book Rebecca had and asked, "What book do you have there?"  
  
"Oh, this is a defense book that Bill lent me. . Who are you writing?"  
  
"My parents, I normally try to write them once a week. I am going to finish this up and then finish up my homework."  
  
"That's cool," Rebecca said opening Bill's book to look at. She became so engrossed with the topics in the books that she didn't even notice that Lauren left and that she was sitting on the couch by herself.  
  
Russel however notice and walked over and sat on the other end of couch. He was about to try to talk to Rebecca when James came into the room singing.  
  
"Why do you build me up,  
  
Build me up, Buttercup?  
  
Baby just to let me down."  
  
James saw that Russel was in close proximity of Rebecca and she wasn't aware of it so as he continued to sing he walked over to her.  
  
"May I have this dance?" James asked with a smile offering Rebecca his hand and then continued to hum his song. Rebecca smiled as she set down the book and got up to dance with him.  
  
Russel glared as James started dancing away from the couch towards the entrance of the common room, which had more room to dance, with Rebecca in his arms. James noticed the glare and decided that he better say something so that Russel didn't get a clue that he purposely got Rebecca to move away from him.  
  
"So what should we teach this lesson?" James started. "Salsa? Tengo? Disco? Basic moves not covered yet."  
  
Rebecca smiled and simply stated to the humming James, "I picked last time so you are stuck with the decision this round."  
  
"Oh, yeah . Let me think about it." James continued to hum as he twirled Rebecca around.  
  
Finally he said, "I got it we haven't taught them how to dip yet."  
  
"Okay," Rebecca laughed as James dipped her.  
  
"What you don't think it's a good idea?"  
  
"I wouldn't say that but we kind of taught them that a while back."  
  
James smirked a little and said, "We didn't teach them this."  
  
Much to Rebecca's surprise James dipped her almost clear to the ground. He had placed his hand behind her neck and that was the only support Rebecca felt she had so she stiffened her whole body so she wouldn't fall on the floor, not that she had that far to fall.  
  
Trying not to laugh she asked, "James, how are you getting me up?"  
  
James was about to answer when the door swung open to reveal Charlie and the rest of the quidditch team.  
  
"What are you two up to?" Charlie asked with a joking tone in his voice as he saw them.  
  
James looked up and dropped Rebecca. She hit the floor and started to laugh hysterically.  
  
The guys rushed around her and James frantically asked, "Becca, are you okay? I am so sorry. I really didn't mean to."  
  
"I'm fine. . I was just thinking how glad I was that I was only a couple of inches from the ground," Rebecca laughed. James offered his hand to help her up.  
  
Still laughing, Rebecca grasped it as she said, "I don't think we should teach that tonight."  
  
James pulled her up and said, "I agree."  
  
Jacquelyn, Sara, and Colin walked into the room to see Rebecca being pulled up from the ground.  
  
"What happened?" they all said in unison. Rebecca looked at James and started laughing hysterically. She couldn't help it. She thought the way she fell on the floor was comical.  
  
Rebecca was laughing so hard that she sat down on the floor so that she wouldn't fall down. James quickly explained what had happened and started to laugh himself. Everyone else started to laugh as Sara, Jacquelyn, Cathrine, and Anna sat next to Rebecca on the floor.  
  
As Cathrine did a comical play by play account of what she saw distracting the girls, the guys stood whispered to James about what was going on.  
  
"Okay, what happened so that you and Rebecca had to practice dancing? You two have never had to practice before a lesson before." Greg whispered.  
  
James looked at everyone and quietly responded, "I know, but when I came in Rebecca was sitting on the couch and Russel was sitting there too."  
  
Charlie looked over and saw Russel still sitting there and watching Rebecca.  
  
"He wasn't doing anything was he?" He asked turning back to James.  
  
James shook his head no as he said, "Rebecca was reading a book and I don't think that she even knew he was there. ... By the way, Jacquelyn and Sara know and are totally all for it. Did you talk to Cathrine?"  
  
"Yeah, she is the same way."  
  
Aaron, A.J., and Heath had been standing with the guys wondering what they were talking about. Finally Heath spoke up and asked, "Hey guys what is going on?"  
  
Before anyone could answer him, Rebecca asked, "What are you guys whispering about?"  
  
The guys looked at her wide eyed not sure what to say.  
  
Luckily, Colin was fast in saying, "Well we wanted to see how hard we could get you laughing and were discussing what the best strategy was to tickle you."  
  
"No!" Rebecca laughed. This set the guys into motion. They started to rush towards her.  
  
Rebecca tried to scramble to her feet but to no avail. Charlie got to her first and then Greg. Before she knew it James, Colin, Heath, and A.J. were all on the ground next to her tickling her. The other girls had scattered when the boys started to move, but now they started to tickle the guys to help Rebecca out. She of course was in the middle of everything.  
  
"NO! NO! NO! Stop it!" Rebecca cried through her laughter.  
  
Russel who had watched the whole thing unfold was about to get up and get Rebecca out of there, when Bill walked in and asked, "What is going on here?"  
  
Everyone stopped immediately. They all sat up straight and laughed about what just happened. They managed to explain to Bill what all went on through all of their giggling. He shook his head and started to laugh as he sat down with the rest of the group.  
  
They all sat around and talked about what ever ran through their heads. More and more Gryffindors joined the group until everyone single one of them was sitting on the floor laughing and carrying on. Harvey and his friends even walked over and sat down near Lauren and her friends who were sitting next to Rebecca.  
  
Oliver and Percy shot daggers at the Slytherin gang until Harvey said, "So Songbird, are you going to sing again?"  
  
His face didn't have the same menacing look that he had always had every time he had talked to Lauren before. Neither of the boys nor Lauren knew what to think of Harvey said.  
  
Rebecca had over heard what was going on and stepped in asking, "Why did you call her Songbird?"  
  
Harvey turned towards Rebecca and it seemed that everyone on the floor had stopped their individual conversations to see what was going on.  
  
"Because she sings as beautiful as a songbird," Harvey matter-of-factly stated.  
  
Rebecca turned to Charlie with a smirk on her face and said, "Why didn't I think of that?"  
  
Rebecca started chuckling to herself. Lauren started to laugh which caused Harvey to join in. Eventually everyone who was on the floor was laughing.  
  
Rebecca leaned her head onto Charlie's shoulder as she looked around the group as Charlie kissed her head and turned back to his friends' conversation. She glanced over at the couch and saw Russel sitting there.  
  
'Wonder how long he has been sitting there?' she thought to herself. 'Guess it doesn't matter I'm not sitting there anymore. I'll just have an in depth conversation with someone when I want to pick Bill's book back up if he is still sitting there.'  
  
Rebecca joined back into the conversation.  
  
They all sat there quite content to stay there all night, until Snape entered the room to check on his students. He almost tripped over Chelsea, who was closest to the entrance since she came joined the group when she came back in from meeting Matt. Snape quickly looked around the room seeing that other than his first years, his students were scattered through out the room and there were a lot of empty seats.  
  
He looked down at them and asked, "Is there not enough room for all the students to sit so you are reduced to the floor?"  
  
The tone in his voice was not that pleasant.  
  
Colin and Cathrine started to open their mouths to say something on the lines of 'No we just haven't disinfected where Slytherin students have sat yet', which probably would have cause Gryffindor to major lose point. Luckily, Rebecca and Greg were sitting close enough to Colin and Cathrine to stop them before could say anything.  
  
Snape looked through the group and stated, "I hope you all have your homework done."  
  
With that he turned and walked back out of the door.  
  
Colin was about to say, 'Don't let the door hit you on out way out,' but Rebecca, who saw it coming, lunged at him and covered his mouth to stop him.  
  
As they tumbled backwards, she whispered, "Don't do it isn't worth getting in trouble over words. Get in trouble over a prank."  
  
Colin had a surprised look when Rebecca put his hand over his mouth, but as soon as she finished whispering to him he started to laugh. The door was completely shut so Rebecca released the amused Colin and settled back next to Charlie.  
  
"You better not let her go Charlie she speaks a lot of common sense," Colin laughed. ".it isn't worth getting in trouble over words. Get in trouble with a prank."  
  
Colin continued laughing to himself as Cathrine started to chuckle as she said, "That is so true. . Charlie, she's a keeper."  
  
Rebecca blushed a little and leaned into Charlie.  
  
He wrapped his arms around her and said, "I always thought she was."  
  
Charlie looked up to see Russel glaring at him.  
  
'Obviously, someone agrees that she is too, but was hoping I didn't realize it,' Charlie thought to himself as they all started to get up after Bill said something about homework.  
  
Russel who had been watching the group was extremely happy to see them start to disburse. He thought, 'Good. I didn't know how much more I could take. Now, I don't have to give up the perfect opportunity to talk to Rebecca because of their little group thing on the floor.'  
  
As the group started to disburse, Russel tried to act like had been sitting there busy the whole time.  
  
Bill had came over and started talking to Rebecca about the book he lent her so Charlie was able to turn back to explain to Aaron, Heath, and A.J. about the Russel situation at hand. The guys were just as appalled as the rest and vowed to help watch over Rebecca. They all keep glancing over at her wonder how she could keep such a calm exterior when she was in the same room with Russel after what he did on Valentine's. What they didn't know was Rebecca only was able to keep herself calm because she was surrounded by friends that she felt would protect her if anything happened. This allowed her to talk to Bill without constantly looking over her shoulder.  
  
Eventually Rebecca and Bill's conversation about his book, lead Rebecca to ask Bill a question, "You know that chapter about vampires I just don't get the how garlic helps ward them off?"  
  
Bill looked a little puzzle and said, "Let me reread it and I'll let you know."  
  
Rebecca headed over to the couch and picked up the book and was about to hand it to Bill when Russel looked up from what he was pretending to read and asked, "Hey Rebecca, could I borrow that book from you when your done?"  
  
Rebecca glanced at Bill and simple answered, "It's Bill's. You'll have to ask him if you could borrow it."  
  
Before Russel could say anything, Bill said to him, "You can see it after Rebecca is done."  
  
Rebecca mischievously smiled at Bill, wrapped her arms around the book, and said, "Who says I'll ever be done?"  
  
They looked at each other for a moment and then they both started to move. Russel watched as Rebecca stepped on to the couch and over it with Bill in close pursuit. She was about to the steps when Bill wrapped his arms around her stomach and picked her up so that she couldn't run any farther.  
  
Rebecca started laughing at the fact that she kept moving her legs as she was lifted off the ground. Bill joined in and sat her down on the steps. As Bill sat down on the steps with her, James came over with a big smile on his face.  
  
"Becca, I have a great idea," he said taking her hands and pulling her to the center of the room.  
  
Rebecca composed herself and asked, "And what is your brilliant idea?"  
  
"Swing dancing."  
  
James started to hum the melody to In the Mood and to do a couple of steps.  
  
Rebecca looked at him for a moment and then said, "We already did that for a lesson."  
  
"But we didn't do any fancy. We just showed the basic steps."  
  
"Oh, no. We aren't."  
  
"Come on, Becca, you know you want to." James started back to humming the big band song.  
  
"No, we have never practiced and some of those moves are really tricky to do if you don't have complete trust in your partner."  
  
James started to act like Rebecca just stabbed him.  
  
"You don't trust me," he said with a playful pout on his face.  
  
"James, trust is really easy to gain the first time around, but if something happens to destroy that trust, it is hard to get back. You and me fancy moves."  
  
"What did I do to lose your trust?" James interjected.  
  
"You dropped me over there." Rebecca pointed to the spot where James had tried to dip her.  
  
James looked over and turned back to Rebecca to say, "So you're saying that dropping you tonight caused you to lose all trust in me."  
  
James was starting to look a little upset, so Rebecca said, "No not totally, just on fancy moves that we hadn't practiced before." Rebecca gave him a hug and added, "I still trust you to help me with my homework."  
  
James laughed and gave her a playful push. Rebecca backed up and smiled mischievously.  
  
Jacquelyn walked over with Sara and Cathrine and asked, "So what is the lesson for tonight?"  
  
Rebecca was about to answer when James said, "We're still fighting it out."  
  
"What are you guys fighting out?" Greg asked as he, Charlie, A.J., Heath, and Aaron walked over to see what is going on.  
  
"What to teach for the dance lesson," Rebecca quickly answered before James had a chance.  
  
"I thought you two had it all figured out how to choose what you were doing every week?" asked Bill.  
  
James looked at Rebecca and they smiled at each other as Rebecca said, "Yes, but James never seems to be able to remember it is his turn and then always ask me what I think."  
  
James took a deep breath and then said, "I say we let people tell us tonight what they want to learn."  
  
"Fine, by me," Rebecca laughed.  
  
"Are you guys going to ask the Slytherins to join us?" asked Bill. Everyone fell silent and looked at him as he continued, "You know we have to they are in the common room with us."  
  
Rebecca shook her head and walked over to an empty chair.  
  
As she stepped up on the chair, many of the students turned to see what she was doing.  
  
"Could I have everyone's attention, please?" Rebecca projected to across the room getting everyone to turn towards her. "Back by popular demand, its dance lessons. As usual, EVERYONE is welcome to join in. For those of you on the fence about whether to join in tonight or do homework, we are going to be taking requests on what James and I will be teaching. It should be a great night for perfecting what we already taught."  
  
Rebecca looked like she was about to get off the chair when she straightened up and added, "Oh for those of you who are new to this. You don't need to worry about having a partner to join in the fun, we'll find one for you."  
  
"Yeah there is always a ghost. Just like the time you danced the waltz with Sir Nicholas, right Rebecca?" Colin shouted out as Rebecca jumped off the chair.  
  
"Yeah, I am sure he would be willing to help out again," Rebecca laughed.  
  
"So Rebecca who is going to be your partner for the lesson?" asked Jacquelyn.  
  
"Charlie, of course, he is my guy after all."  
  
Rebecca walked over towards Charlie and gave him a big hug as Chelsea said, "You all always get the best partners. Oh well, Heath will you be my partner again?"  
  
Heath jokingly responded, "So I am not a good partner, then?"  
  
"No you're a good partner, just." Chelsea started, but could figure out what to say to get her foot out of her mouth so she gave up.  
  
The whole group laughed, including Heath, because they all knew it didn't matter what Chelsea said Heath would be her partner. He was Matt's best friend and he and Chelsea had a flirty friendship since they were around each so much. While they were still laughing, they started to rearrange the furniture so that everyone had room to dance.  
  
All in all it was a nice lesson. Everyone seemed to be having a great time. Almost everyone joined in. Lauren who usually was ecstatic about Sunday dance lesson was sitting in a corner by herself with school books opened. Rebecca had walked over to Lauren and asked her what was up. Lauren explained that she still had homework to do and felt that she couldn't do anything until she had it all done. Rebecca understood and told Lauren that if she needed any help just to let her know.  
  
Lauren wasn't the only one who wasn't participating, though. Ryan refused to join in even after Cassie threw a fit trying to get him to dance with her. Russel walked over and saved his friend by asking Cassie to dance with him instead. They had a bit of trouble getting in sync with each other.  
  
James and Jacquelyn tried to help them out, but not with much success, partly because Cassie wasn't trying very hard. Russel tried to keep going with Cassie, but was relieved when Jacquelyn in her frustration accidentally suggested that James dance with Cassie while she worked with Russel.  
  
"Thank you so much," Russel sincerely said as he and Jacquelyn danced away from the other two.  
  
Jacquelyn wasn't sure exactly what to say. It was Russel the guy who deceived Rebecca after all. She managed to come up with "It wasn't that bad, was it?"  
  
"Has James ever stepped on your foot while you danced?"  
  
She shook her head no. Jacquelyn had stepped on James foot when she was learning new steps, but he had managed never to have step on hers.  
  
"Well, I think that I stepped on her foot without even picking up my feet."  
  
Jacquelyn started to laugh, "Sorry that's funny."  
  
"Yeah, it is," Russel said as he started to laugh.  
  
The two continued to laugh as Jacquelyn showed him some of the moves that she had learned unaware that Rebecca, Charlie, Greg, Sara, Cathrine, Colin, and James had all glanced over to see them causing them to wonder what was going on.  
  
After the dance lesson, the students moved back the furniture and headed up to their respective rooms. On their way to the stairs, several Slytherins came up and thanked James and Rebecca for the lesson.  
  
Akira, a fifth year with dark brown hair girl with hazel eyes, who Rebecca recognized as on of the Slytherin Beaters, commented as she and Toby, a jet black haired, blue eyed third year and one of the keeper for that house's team, how entertaining it was as they passed the two Gryffindors. Toby said something about wishing his girlfriend Cicille, one of the Slytherin chasers, had been there to see that he really didn't have two left feet.  
  
Rebecca smiled at James when she heard the two Slytherins' conversation and then headed up to bed with the other fifth year Gryffindor girls.  
  
Up in the fifth year girls' room, Jacquelyn got mobbed asking what was so funny while she was dancing with Russel. As the all sat on her bed, she explained what all happened.  
  
The other girls giggled a little until she said, "I had to keep reminding myself everything he did to Rebecca, so that I didn't start to think he would be a great person to hang out with."  
  
All of them looked at Rebecca.  
  
"Yeah, he has that effect on people." Rebecca soberly said remembering what she thought of him during Christmas. She then quickly changed the subject. "Did you all notice that the Slytherins all had a tint of color?"  
  
Sara thought for a moment and said, "Sort of, I thought the light was playing tricks on my eyes though."  
  
The other two girls shook their heads in agreement with Sara.  
  
"Yeah, that is the beauty of our prank. The powder sugar on the candy slows the potion down without affecting its potency. We should see them complete colored tomorrow and no one will think it is the lights."  
  
Cathrine got a smile on her face as they talked of the prank. She asked, "How long is it going to last?"  
  
Rebecca thought for a moment and finally said, "Well it should last most of tomorrow, but they will be back to normal coloring the next day without a doubt."  
  
"Wish it would last longer." Cathrine pouted a little.  
  
"If we could have gotten more in them it would. You'll just have to take a picture so that it last. hehehe . Come on let's go to bed so that we can get up early and not miss anything."  
  
The girls got off of Jacquelyn's bed and started to get ready for bed excited about what they would see from their prank in the morning.  
  
Rebecca had just walked out of the bathroom and was headed towards her bed when there was a knock on the girl's door. Since her bed was closest to the door, Rebecca answered it. After slowly opening the door, she looked out to find Carolyn standing there.  
  
"What's the matter?" Rebecca asked.  
  
Carolyn looked nervous and she stuttered a little when she said, "L-Lauren hasn't come up from the common room. And I think there is some of the older Slytherins are still down there."  
  
"I'll go get her," Rebecca said causing Carolyn instantly calm down. They exchanged smiles as Rebecca passed Carolyn and down the stairs.  
  
When she hit the bottom step Rebecca looked around the room seeing a few people from Slytherin here and there. Russel was sitting on the couch looking at a piece of paper. Ryan was busy writing something at a table on the other side of the room. Neither seemed to notice she had entered the room, which was fine by Rebecca she just wanted to get Lauren and didn't want to interact with either of the guys. Finally, she saw Lauren was still in the corner she had been earlier, but she had her head down as if she was asleep.  
  
Rebecca walked up and shook her lightly as she softly said, "Hey Lauren, it is time to go to bed."  
  
Lauren brought her head up and looked at Rebecca groggily. After taking Lauren by the arm, Rebecca helped her up and started to lead her out of the room.  
  
"I have a potions quiz that I need to study for," Lauren tried to protest, but Rebecca simply answered, "We'll get up in the morning and I will help you get ready for it."  
  
Lauren shook her head to let Rebecca know she was okay with the plan.  
  
They were about to the stairs when Lauren whispered, "Oh my books."  
  
She tried to turn back to get them, but Rebecca stopped her by quietly stating, "Go up the stairs. I am sure that Carolyn is waiting for you. I'll get your books and bring them down with me in the morning."  
  
Rebecca then turned and headed back to the table Lauren had been at. She picked up everything Lauren left and turned to head back up to her room. Rebecca about dropped everything because Russel was standing right there.  
  
"Need any help?" he quietly asked.  
  
"No, I can manage. Thank you, though," Rebecca hesitantly said trying to move past him as she reshuffled the books in her arms. Russel let her pass, but followed her towards the step.  
  
"So, do you guys always have so much fun around here?" Russel asked trying to make conversation.  
  
"What?"  
  
Rebecca stopped and turned around.  
  
"Your house just seems to have a lot of fun together. I was just wondering whether every weekend is like this one."  
  
"I guess. . I really have to get back upstairs."  
  
"Okay," Russel said as she started up the stairs.  
  
After she hit the first step Rebecca turned around quickly. Russel was right there behind her. Standing on the step brought Rebecca eye level with him.  
  
"Yes," Russel asked his face closer to Rebecca's then it ever was before. As much as she wanted to back up, Rebecca was afraid that she would trip on the stairs and really didn't want Russel to think that she was scared of him in case he might try to use it against her some other time.  
  
So she stood her ground as she softly said, "I-I just wanted to thank you myself for helping me out with the snake. I think if you hadn't said anything I think he" she pointed at Ryan "wouldn't have stopped and probably would have put it right on my face." Rebecca shuttered at the thought.  
  
Russel's face softened as it had the times before when Rebecca thanked him and said, "It was nothing. I was just glad I could help."  
  
Rebecca shook her head and said, "Night."  
  
Rebecca quickly turned and headed up the stair as Russel called up after her, "Sleep Sweet, Rebecca."  
  
Russel turned back and walked over to where Ryan was with a huge smile on her face.  
  
Ryan glanced up at him as Russel sat down and said with a triumph tone in his voice, "She thanked me."  
  
Ryan laughed still looking at what he was writing, "You thought she never would do that again, didn't you?" Russel shook his head yes as Ryan continued, "See I told you that standing up to your friends for her would do the trick. Rebecca can never stay mad if you help her."  
  
Ryan put his quill down and looked at Russel to say something, but just stared at him with his mouth open.  
  
"What?" Russel questioned.  
  
Ryan shook himself out of this trance to say, "Are you feeling okay?"  
  
"Um, yeah, why?"  
  
"You look a little green. I noticed it earlier today, but it seems more prominent now."  
  
"Weird, maybe it's the lighting in here, because you look a little blue to me."  
  
"Or maybe we are so tired that we are seeing things. Come on lets go to bed." 


	15. Truces

Up in the fifth year girls' room, Rebecca sat Lauren's book at the end of her bed. Sara was still up and noticed that something was bothering Rebecca. She walked over and started to ask a question when Rebecca just commenced with telling her what had happened downstairs. Sara just sat and listened until Rebecca said, "Thank you for listening."  
  
"Like I said before, anytime."  
  
"I still can't believe that I thanked him, even after everything he has done to me."  
  
"Don't worry about it. You are in the habit of thanking anyone that helps you out. That's a habit you don't want to get out of. So what if you apologize to the jerk. It just proves you're a bigger person."  
  
"You're right. Thank you. I think I will be able to sleep now," Rebecca said with a smile.  
  
Sara smiled back as her mind raced, 'What would have Rebecca did if the guys had tried something just then. We are going to have to keep a closer watch and not let her get into situations like that again, like the boys said.'  
  
"Night Sara!"  
  
Sara shook herself out of her trance and responded, "Night, Becca!"  
  
The two girls climbed into their own beds and fell asleep.  
  
Rebecca was peacefully sleeping when she heard the door open. She sat up in bed, opened her bed curtains, and flipped on her bed side lamp. "Lauren, what are you doing?" she asked when she saw the first year standing in the doorway. "I needed my books," Lauren timidly said stepping in to the room, picking up her books, and walking out of the room. "Lauren it is 2:30 in the morning, you need your sleep." Rebecca didn't hear any response, because Lauren was already out of ear shot. After giving out a sigh Rebecca fell back into her bed and drifted back to sleep from the calming sound of the rain hitting the window.  
  
Around 4:30 a.m., Rebecca jerked out of her sleep by a crack of thunder. Normally the thunder wouldn't have woken her up so she didn't know why she woke up this time. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary in the room but Rebecca felt that something was amidst elsewhere.  
  
Rebecca got out of bed and headed out of the room to see what was going in the common room. There wasn't anything going on down there, but there was someone there that shouldn't be.  
  
Lauren was sitting at a table with her head down. Rebecca was still really groggy but she knew that Lauren was asleep from trying to study more. After walking over and checked on Lauren, Rebecca decided not it would be best not to wake the first year up.  
  
"Oh, I can't lift you to your room," Rebecca muttered to herself.  
  
She headed back up the stairs to get Charlie to help her. She got to where the fifth years door was and she was faced with two choices.  
  
Too tired to think straight, Rebecca opened the door to her left and said, "Hey, it's me. Can you come down to the common room and help me with Lauren?"  
  
She turned leaving the door open and walked back the steps.  
  
A moment later, Charlie appeared in the common room.  
  
"I thought I heard your voice through the door," he said as he approached Rebecca.  
  
"Through the door? I thought I opened it before I said anything," Rebecca responded barely able to keep her eyes open.  
  
"Our door was closed when I got out of bed."  
  
"Oh . Oops, I must have opened the Slytherins door. Oh well." Rebecca yawned as Charlie laughed at the thought of Rebecca mistakenly waking up all of the Slytherin fifth year guys.  
  
"Okay, so what did you need me for?" he said through his laughter.  
  
"Lauren snuck down here and fell asleep studying. I think she would rest better in her own bed."  
  
Rebecca didn't have to say another word. Charlie picked Lauren up and started towards the stairs with Rebecca following close behind. They got to the foot of the steps and saw Russel heading down the steps.  
  
"What's going on?" he asked as they all stopped and stared at each other.  
  
"I must be really tired. You look green." Rebecca said.  
  
"What?" Russel looked at her strangely.  
  
"Rebecca needed me to help get Lauren back into bed," Charlie plainly explained not saying anything about how green Russel's skin was even though he noticed.  
  
"Then why did she come to our room for help?" Russel questioned.  
  
"That was a mistake. I was tired and picked the wrong door," Rebecca said as she yawned.  
  
"Come on lets get back to bed," Charlie said pushing past Russel roughly but not enough to stir Lauren. Rebecca followed him up the stairs holding on to his arm while they pasted Russel.  
  
As the two got Lauren into her bed, Russel went to find a mirror.  
  
'Why did Rebecca say I looked green? I don't feel sick,' he thought to himself.  
  
As soon as he held the mirror up he found out why. Russel stared at his green face and then looked to see that his arms and legs were green was well. He walked back into his room and turned on the lights.  
  
Though he heard groans from the other boys he ignored them as he proceeded to open the curtains of their beds to see if they had changed colors. Ryan's skin was a bright shade of blue and Hans was a brillant orange. Sam was red and Dan had very yellow skin.  
  
"What is going on?" Ryan roared annoyed that Russel woke up him up.  
  
"Look at your skin, mate. It's blue!" Russel explained.  
  
The guys started to freak out wondering why their skin looked the way it did.  
  
Rebecca woke up again around 6 a.m., looked out the window to see that it was still raining, and then headed out of the room so that she could help Lauren study. Lauren was already up and going as were the rest of the Gryffindor first years.  
  
"What are you all doing up?" Rebecca asked as she groggily took a seat next to Lauren.  
  
"Studying the potions pop quiz," Lauren responded for the group.  
  
Rebecca looked at her for a moment strangely and then said, "Wait a minute. You didn't say it was a pop quiz last night."  
  
"I didn't?"  
  
"No, you didn't," Rebecca started and then she yawned. "Okay, got another question for you: How do you know about a pop quiz?"  
  
"Alannah told me that she heard Professor Snape say that he was going to give us one."  
  
"When did she say that?"  
  
"Last night during the dance lesson, I was almost finished and would have been able to join in, except she walked over and whispered to me about the quiz. I didn't feel like I could just go into a quiz cold so I started to study for it. Unfortunately I didn't know what to study and the more I got into the more I found that I needed to study."  
  
"You told everyone else about it, then?" Lauren shook her head yes.  
  
"Do you think she might have been playing a trick?" Rebecca asked Lauren.  
  
Just then Snape walked into the common room. He glanced over at the group and directed his question towards Rebecca. "What are you all doing up at this hour?"  
  
"The first-years here are under the impression that you are going to give them a pop quiz today. So I am trying to help them get ready for it," Rebecca responded and then yawned.  
  
Snape looked at the first-years who were keeping their heads down so they wouldn't make eye contact with the professor.  
  
He then asked, "Where did they get the idea that I was going to give a pop quiz today from?"  
  
Rebecca quickly explained, "Well from what I understand, Alannah told Lauren about it. Lauren sort of freaked out about it and it spread from there."  
  
"Is that true?" Snape asked this time looking right at Lauren.  
  
"Y-yes, sir," stammered Lauren.  
  
Snape looked at Lauren and then at Rebecca as Rebecca asked, "So is there or isn't there going to be a quiz?"  
  
"I had no intentions to give a quiz today."  
  
All the first years gave a sigh of relief and started to pack up things so they could go up and get dressed.  
  
Snape then asked, "Was Alannah the only one to say anything about this?"  
  
Rebecca turned to Lauren who was shaking her head yes.  
  
"She must have heard it from someone else and wanted to give you a heads up about it."  
  
'Some how I doubt that was the case,' Rebecca thought to herself as she got up to go back upstairs.  
  
"Miss Carter, might I have a word with you?" Snape asked just as Rebecca reached the stairs.  
  
"Yes, sir," Rebecca said as she turned to face him wondering what he was going to say.  
  
Snape walked over and started, "I received an owl this morning saying that there was a prank pulled on the Slytherin fifth year males."  
  
Rebecca knew it was time to start acting so she looked at Snape curiously and innocently asked, "Really? What was the prank?"  
  
"I am not sure yet. The letter didn't really say anything other than I need to check in on things. I am assuming that a prank caused the letter to be written. ... Have you noticed anything going on around here?"  
  
Rebecca acted like she was thinking about the question and finally said, "Um, no, we had a few rough patches at first, but everyone seems to be getting along okay. ... The students from your house even joined in when we had a dance lesson last night and they seemed to be having fun."  
  
Snape shook his head and then asked, "Would you please show me to the dorm my fifth year boys are in?"  
  
"This way, Professor," Rebecca responded as she started up the stairs.  
  
'I have to act shocked if I see them. I have to act shocked if I see them,' Rebecca kept repeating in her head as they walked up the steps. She knew that it was the candy prank that Snape was talking about and if she didn't react at the sight of them different colors then Ryan might get suspious.  
  
They arrived at the fifth year male dorms and Rebecca pointed out the door. Snape passed her and was just about to knock on the door when the door to the Gryffindor's room flew open and Colin came running out.  
  
Colin and Rebecca were startled at the sight of each other.  
  
Colin regained his composure and said, "Just who we wanted to see."  
  
Rebecca's eye got big wondering why he was looking for her that early in the morning.  
  
After a moment of just staring at Colin she finally said, "Why?" "Our tongues are different colors and the only thing us guys can figure out is that your candy did it."  
  
"What are you talking about?" Rebecca asked, not sure exactly what to do.  
  
"Look," Colin said and then stuck out his tongue to show Rebecca that it was purple.  
  
Rebecca looked and sighed, "Oh that from the food coloring in the candy. It will wear off after a while. Don't worry about it. See my tongue is probably still a different color."  
  
Rebecca stuck out her tongue reveling that it was blue.  
  
"Oh." Colin shook his head and said, "That would have made a good prank. Candy that changes you colors."  
  
'Oh I better thing of something fast or else Snape is going to think Colin did it,' Rebecca's mind raced. Quickly she said, "Wish you thought of it, huh? Sorry to disappoint you, but it ..."  
  
"Their gloating about it!" an angry voice said from behind Snape.  
  
Both Colin and Rebecca turned in the direction of the voice. They saw that Snape had been looking at them, but had also turned to see a Blue Ryan standing behind him.  
  
"What happened to you?" Colin asked astonished at what he saw.  
  
"Like you don't know? You were the one that did this to us. All of us," Ryan harshly said and then opened the door wider to reveal all of the Slytherins that moved in to the tower had skin of different colors.  
  
Rebecca's eyes got big as she took in this sight. She saw that Russel was green and Sam was red, while Hans was orange and Dan was yellow. Cassie had turned pink and Akira and Toby had both turned purple. She was off to a good start on leading everyone astray, but then she did something she couldn't stop herself from doing.  
  
She started to laugh as she tried to scan more of the Slytherin's colorful faces. Everyone stared at her as she went into a hysterical fit.  
  
Rebecca sat down on the steps and laughed really hard for a minute or two and finally calmed down enough to say, "I am sorry, but that has to be the funniest thing I ever saw. ... How did you guys do that?" Rebecca added the last comment in hopes to throw everyone off.  
  
However it was too late. Rebecca's laughter and the part of the conversation that Ryan had heard when he first opened the door had made him suspicious of her. "You know how. You did it," he coolly said.  
  
Rebecca almost instantly sobered up. She looked at him and asked, "What? How exactly did I do this to you?"  
  
"You gave us that candy."  
  
"I gave everyone candy. Stacy sent too much I had to get rid of it some way."  
  
"You put something is ours though to make us charge color."  
  
"And what would I have put in it so to do that?"  
  
Ryan paused for a moment just staring at Rebecca. 'What would she have done?' he asked himself, and then it hit him. "You coated it with some rainbow potion," he announced confidently.  
  
'Oh, great! He figured it out. Let me think, how do I get out of this?' Rebecca thought as she stared back at Ryan.  
  
After a moment, she calmly said, "Let's ignore the fact that I was with my friends all yesterday and that the time lapse of when you saw me go upstairs to change and when I came back down with the candy wasn't long enough for me to brew the potion, cool it down, and coat the candy. A high quality rainbow potion would have caused you to blend into your surroundings and you all stick out like sore thumbs."  
  
"Putting it on the candy could have changed it," Ryan tried to protest.  
  
"As long as the potion was gradually cooled then it wouldn't. Obviously, the candy in question would have been coated with a lesser quality of the potion." Ryan was about to say something so Rebecca quickly added, "And before you go saying that one of the other girls from Gryffindor had time to make the potion. Let me remind you that I was with them. Which leads to the question that why would I let someone make an improper potion? I would have done it myself or helped and I am too tired to be insulted that you think that I would produce anything but a quality potion." Rebecca then muttered, "I'll be insulted later."  
  
Ryan temper flared and he said, "How do we know that your friend, who sent the candy, didn't do it for you then?"  
  
Rebecca rolled her eyes.  
  
"You caught me, Ryan. I wrote my friend weeks ago to get her muggle mother to make me candy that had this difficult potion in it so that if by chance you Slytherins moved in I could make you change colors," Rebecca sarcastically said.  
  
Snape had been taking in all that was going on and decide it was then time to step in. After all he didn't want his best student and his house's students to get into a fight. So before Ryan could get another comment out, Snape said, "It sounds like there were some strange happenings last night. I just want to clarify a few things. Miss Carter, you didn't have any rainbow potion lying around by any chance?"  
  
Knowing that that she needed to negate to saying that it was Cathrine's potion, Rebecca honestly answered, "I don't keep any of my potions at. I figure while I am in school it is better for me to redo the potion if I need it for what ever reason, because it gives me the practice."  
  
She looked directly at Snape secretly hoping that she didn't say too much. Snape nodded. He seemed to believe she was the type to do that.  
  
"And you got the candy in question from you friend who is from?"  
  
"She goes to Beauxbatons, sir."  
  
"And she wouldn't..."  
  
"Oh, no, sir. Stacy wouldn't send me candy that has been tampered with."  
  
"And you gave some to everyone?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"And this is not a normal reaction?" Snape pointed at Ryan and his group.  
  
"No, not that. Tongue changing colors is usually more typical."  
  
"Very well. I suggest you all get dressed and get breakfast," Snape said to them all and turned to leave.  
  
"Professor, you aren't going to make us go out there like this," the pink Cassie whined still in her night gown and robe.  
  
"You are here for an education Miss Burk. A little color shouldn't not stop you."  
  
With that Snape went down the stairs and out of the Gryffindors tower.  
  
Rebecca turned to head to her room, but Ryan grabbed her arm to stop her. "I know you did it," he angrily whispered at her.  
  
Rebecca just looked at the blue skinned teenager and coolly said, "Prove it."  
  
Ryan dropped her arm and Rebecca left. Colin shrugged his shoulder at Ryan and headed back into his room.  
  
In the Gryffindor fifth year male room, Colin told the guys of what happened outside. "... I know she was telling the truth, but I have this feeling that all of our girls orchestrated that prank and figure out how to get themselves to appear innocent of it. . I have to say that after watching Becca out there, I don't know why we get so worried about her encounter one of them by alone. She held her own. Of course that was a battle of wit, Ryan could have easily picked her up and threw her out a window if he got really mad at her," Colin said as he finished.  
  
Charlie soberly said, "I wouldn't worry about her if it wasn't for the fact that those guys have proven that they will use whatever weakness she has against her."  
  
"Rebecca will be fine," Greg started. "She has been around Malfoy most of her life and she know how to push his buttons just as much as he knows how to push hers. Flint though is throwing me for a loop."  
  
"You and everyone else. I don't think anyone in this group knows what to think of him," James interrupted. He then muttered, "Jacquelyn actually said that she would dance with him again."  
  
"Dude, it was just because she got to teach him something. You know she likes to learn knew things directly from the experts, but likes to test how much she learned by trying to teach someone else. She was just excited that she knew enough to teach someone and he let her teach last night when she said that," stated Charlie trying to calm James down as the other guys just looked at each other not sure what to say.  
  
James shook his head, but seemed to be still brooding over Jacquelyn's comment. Everyone else just watched him until Greg finally looked down at his watch and said, "We better get finished getting ready or else the girls are going to be wondering where we are."  
  
While the guys hurried to finish getting ready, the girls were discussing what had happened as they got ready.  
  
"Did Ryan really put it all together?" Cathrine asked.  
  
"Yeah, but I think it was because he heard Colin say something about how the candy would make a great prank, not from him being some kind of evil genius," Rebecca replied.  
  
"Colin should have known better," Cathrine stated putting her books for the day onto her bed.  
  
"Well, he really didn't know what we were up to so he wouldn't have. Besides, what happened is going to keep the heat off of not only us but Colin as well. You know if Colin hadn't have said that Snape would went after him next."  
  
"You're right. Good thing he came out when he did."  
  
Both girls smiled at each other. Sara was about to say something when there was a knock on the door.  
  
"Who is it?" called Sara.  
  
A muffled noise on the other side of the door responded. The girls looked at each other not sure what to they just heard.  
  
Rebecca was the closest so she went to open the door. Slowly she opened the door not sure who was on the other side, hoping it was Ryan or Russel. Much to her relief it was Charlie and Greg.  
  
"Hey guys," Rebecca said flinging the door the rest of the way open.  
  
"Good morning, beautiful," Charlie said smiling at Rebecca. "Are you girls ready for breakfast?"  
  
"Yep," Sara responded for the group.  
  
"Good. Let's go then, I am hungry," Greg said as Sara walked out the door.  
  
Rebecca followed her out of the room and saw that James and Colin were in the stairway as well. Jacquelyn and Cathrine came out of the room and took their boyfriends' arms as they all headed down to the Great Hall.  
  
As they approached the entrance to the great hall, they heard a roar of laughter. The girls smiled at each other as they walked in to see that all of the students from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and the Slytherin students who were not staying in Gryffindor.  
  
The colored Slytherins sat on the end of the Slytherin table closest to the door. They all had there heads down trying not to make eye contact with anyone who wasn't suffering their affliction, except for Ryan.  
  
"She did it. I know she did," Ryan muttered glaring across the room at Rebecca.  
  
Russel looked at his Blue skinned friend and stated, "But everyone had the candy. Don't you think it is strange that everyone in Gryffindor aren't different colors. The results should have been a more homogenous, if it was the candy."  
  
Ryan didn't say another word. He just thought to himself, 'He doesn't know her like I do. She would have stated that she had nothing to do with it if she was truly innocent. I have no doubt that all of her statements weren't lies, but she definitely wasn't telling everything that she knew. .'  
  
"Ryan," Cassie interrupted his train of thought. "Sweetie, we need to get to class."  
  
Ryan nodded his head and got up to walk to potions with Cassie as she went on and on about how she saw that something bad was going to happen to them when they first moved in.  
  
Potions class went as it normally did. Except with the Slyherins being all different colors, there were lot of snickers from the Gryffindor students. Ryan fiercely looked at Rebecca everything he heard any noise. The few times she saw Ryan glaring at her, all Rebecca could do was look at him innocently and just shrug at him. This, of course, infuriated him more.  
  
Ryan was glad that when class was over with. He took Cassie's hand and dragged her out of class as soon as they were dismissed. Rebecca noticed Ryan's rushed exit and laughed as she and the other Gryffindors left to go to Herbology.  
  
As they walked along the corridor to the greenhouses, Charlie asked Rebecca, "So, how long are the Slytherins going to be colorized?"  
  
Rebecca just looked at him and said, "I don't know what you're talking about."  
  
After looking at the other girls, Rebecca started to walk ahead of Charlie. Sara hurried up and joined Rebecca as did Jacquelyn and Cathrine. They were all a little leery of saying anything about their part in the prank in the halls. The guys all just watched at the girls walking ahead of them.  
  
"They're hiding something," Colin said when the girls were out of earshot.  
  
"I want to know who did what," Greg said.  
  
James said, "Personally, I think once we find out who thought it up. We'll know the answer to that."  
  
"I think we better try and wait until we are back up in the common room to find out anything. Obviously they don't want to talk about it in the halls," Charlie said as they walked out in to the rain to get to the greenhouse.  
  
After trying to dodge the rain drops, the Gryffindors sat down in Herbology soaking wet. Rebecca took her regular sit, but found that the normal warm spot was freezing cold from a draft that normally wasn't there. She looked up to see a great big vent hovering over her head as Professor Sproat informed the class that they would be propagating the sano plant which for a second after it was cut emitted a gas that would knock anyone out who smelt it.  
  
"Now put on the nose plugs that I have provided for you and I will show you the proper way to cut them and set your cuttings in the new pots," Professor Sprout said as she and the students took the nose plugs and put them on.  
  
"Now," the professor said in a more nasally voice as she demonstrated. "All you do is you take a hold of the plant and then look for a growth center and cut just below it."  
  
Sprout cut the plant and just as she said a white gas rose out from where it was cut and stopped after a moment. The gas that was emitted though moved along the ground until it got closer to the vent above Rebecca where it was sucked up in an instant.  
  
"Did everyone see how to do it?"  
  
The students shook their heads.  
  
"Okay, now who can tell me what are the uses of this plant?"  
  
Rebecca knew the answer but was so cold that she couldn't get herself to raise her had. Of course there was no fear of a random person getting called since Rebecca wasn't raising her hand, because James' and Jacquelyn's hands shot up into the air.  
  
"Jacquelyn?"  
  
Jacquelyn smirked at James who was pretending to sulk as she answered, "People have been know to bottle the gas the sano emits and use it as knock out gas for surprise attack since it really do not have an odor to it."  
  
Jacquelyn was about to say more, but Professor Sprout interrupted her by saying, "Very good. Now James, is there another use?"  
  
It was then Jacquelyn's turn to pretend to sulk as James smirked at her as he answered, "Once the gas has been emitted the leaves have healing qualities to it. It will cure about any ailment from sickness or neutralize any poison."  
  
"Correct five points each for Gryffindor. ... Okay now it is time for you to do the cutting. Before any of you start, please let all of the gas clears from around your station before cutting your sano again. Miss Carter, you will go first with cutting since you have the position under the vent and I am afraid you may not get another good opportunity after this."  
  
Rebecca gave out a sigh as she shook her head and pick up her knife. After mimicking Professor Sprout's demonstration and cutting her sano plant properly, a white gas rose all around her. It was sucked up the vent in a moment as Rebecca planted her first cutting.  
  
"Very good, Rebecca. Now everyone go to it. We have a lot to do."  
  
Rebecca cut her plant again, but that was the last time she had a decent line of sight since everyone else was cutting their plants too.  
  
By the end of the period, everyone had planted ten to twelve cuttings. Rebecca only had eight, but Professor Sprout examined her cuttings and was so impressed on how well Rebecca had did even with all the thick white gas around her that she awarded Rebecca ten points.  
  
Though she should have been happy about this, Rebecca was cold from the draft and tired from really concentrating to see what she was cutting, which made her care less that she had won points for the house. She was just glad to be able to get out of the greenhouse. Rebecca was the first one out the door followed by Charlie and the rest of the group.  
  
It was still raining so Rebecca made a dash for the castle, but she was still soaked as she entered into the castle. Charlie, James, Jacquelyn, Colin, and Cathrine came in right behind her. They all looked like drowned rats too. Greg came in a moment later with Sara in his arms.  
  
"What happened? You were right behind us," asked Cathrine looking at the two.  
  
Sara quickly explained, "I slipped and I think I twisted my ankle."  
  
"I am going to take her to the hospital wing to get her checked out," added Greg. "We'll see you at lunch."  
  
"Okay, but give us your books, so you don't have to go lugging those around with you," said Rebecca as she took Sara's Books.  
  
James quickly took Greg's books and Greg carried Sara away. The rest of the group walked into the Great Hall and sat down making sure to save Greg and Sara seats with them.  
  
"I hope she's okay," Jacquelyn said as she placed some of Sara's books that Rebecca handed her down next to her.  
  
"Madame Pompfrey will have her as good as new in a matter of moments. Just look at how well she did with Rebecca after all of her trips there," Colin joked.  
  
Rebecca made a face at him and then started to laugh. Charlie shook his head and placed his hand over Rebecca's on the table.  
  
"Hey, your hand is like ice. Are you okay?" he asked clutching Rebecca's hand a little tighter trying to get it warmed up.  
  
Rebecca simply responded, "Yeah, I just got cold in Herbology. That vent created quite a draft around me."  
  
Charlie shook his head and then started to fill his plate with his free hand. Greg and Sara showed up fifteen minutes later and took their seat. As she sat down, Sara told everyone that she was fine and that Madame Pompfrey had indeed fixed her up without any problem. Everyone smiled and went back to eating.  
  
Rebecca caught sit of Ryan who was still a vibrant blue and she started laugh really hard. She really couldn't help it. The sight of Ryan and the memory confrontation that the two had had in the morning just set her off. Charlie and the rest of the gang looked at her funny.  
  
Sara glanced over to the Slytherin table and also saw Ryan and started to laugh just as hard as Rebecca. Jacquelyn and Cathrine followed suit leaving the guys to wonder that was up with their girlfriends.  
  
The girls settled down rather quickly, but made a point not to look over at the Slytherin table the rest of lunch. The guys couldn't resist and tried to question the girls on the prank but they refused to talk once again, which was about driving Colin nuts. He was dying to know how they pulled it off, if it really involved the candy, and if it didn't how and when they actually pulled the prank.  
  
Finally it was time to get back to class. On her way out to History of Magic, Ryan walked up behind Rebecca and asked, "What was so funny at lunch?"  
  
"You want the truth?" Rebecca asked nonchalantly as she walked a little bit closer to Charlie.  
  
"Of course!"  
  
"It was you," Rebecca said trying to stifle another giggle fit.  
  
Ryan grabbed her hand to stop her, but the shock of Rebecca's ice cold hand made him instantly let go as Rebecca continued to walk down the hall.  
  
"I want to talk to you tonight! ALONE!" Ryan called down the hall at her.  
  
"Fine, if you can find me by myself, then you are more than welcome to talk to me alone," Rebecca responded coolly back.  
  
'Now all I have to do is keep myself around someone all night. I better check to see if Charlie has practice tonight,' Rebecca thought as she walked in the classroom in front of Charlie.  
  
She turned to him ask the question, but Charlie had read her mind and said, "I have practice tonight, but it is suppose to be a shorter one than usual with all this rain. I think Bill wants to talk to you though so you might want to do that while I am at practice so that we can study without interruptions when I get back."  
  
"Okay." Since she was flabbergasted that Charlie answered her unasked question without hesitation, that was all Rebecca could respond as she settle herself in her seat next to Kevin Shea, a fifth year Ravenclaw beater with dark blonde hair and brown eyes.  
  
Charlie sat down next to her and was about to say something else, but Kevin said, "Maybe you two could answer the question of the day: What happened to the Slytherins that are staying in Gryffindor?"  
  
Charlie looked at Rebecca to see if she was going to response to the question as Kevin continued as he pointed to a fifth year girl from Ravenclaw with dark brown hair, green eyes, and glasses that Rebecca recognized as the Ravenclaw seeker, "I was telling Audrey that it was a good prank, probably executed by Piper and Tyson, but she doesn't think so since it isn't all over school that Colin had a part in it already."  
  
Audrey rolled her eyes and started to play with the necklace she was wearing as Kevin pointed at another fifth year girl with straight blonde hair who held the position of Keeper on the Ravenclaw team as he said, "Alise though agrees with me. If there is going to be a prank than Colin was definitely in on it."  
  
Charlie jumped in and said, "Well we aren't for sure who exactly did it yet."  
  
"Really?"  
  
Rebecca quickly answered, "Yeah, but one thing is for sure. Colin had nothing to do with it."  
  
"Really? Wonder who did it than? ... Kind of funny that no one has said anything though, I mean who would want to stay quiet on that prank? It was brillant." Kevin pondered out loud as Cathrine ran into the room whispered to Rebecca that she had snapped a picture of the Slytherins, which of course pissed them off and if it wasn't that they had to go to class they would have followed her into the room.  
  
"Yeah, I wonder who?" Charlie asked staring right at Rebecca who snickered a little at what Cathrine told her.  
  
She didn't say anything in response and Charlie was about to ask about what Cathrine whispered to her, but lucky for Rebecca, Professor Binns start to lecture. Charlie sighed and decided as he started to take notes that he better not try to find out about the prank done on the Slytherin from Rebecca until the Slytherins had moved out since she was obviously was determined to be closed lipped about it now and what ever Cathrine said probably has to do with it.  
  
After zoning out at least a dozen times during the lecture, Rebecca realized that it was almost time for class to be done. She was really glad, because she was still really cold from Herbology.  
  
"Are you ready to go?" Charlie asked as they got up from their chairs.  
  
Rebecca checked around to make sure she hadn't dropped anything out of her bag and said, "Yeah."  
  
"Your hand is still cold," Charlie said as he took Rebecca's hand as they headed out of classroom.  
  
Rebecca looked at him and said, "I am freezing all over."  
  
Charlie put his arm around her and pulled her close to him hoping that she might feel a little warmer, but his clothes were still slightly damp as were Rebecca's and it made her feel colder. Rebecca however didn't say that, she liked it when Charlie touched her. There was part of her that always wanted him to be either holding her hand or having his arm around her, because she felt safer and more protected than she ever felt before when he did.  
  
They walked down the hall and Rebecca stifled some shivers as best she could, but Charlie could still feel her tremble so he said, "How about for our free period we go up and get out of these wet clothes?"  
  
"Sounds great."  
  
"Okay let's go."  
  
They were about half way up the stairs in front of the Great Hall when Aaron came up to Charlie.  
  
"We need to discuss a few things," Wood urgently stated.  
  
"Can it wait for practice?" Charlie asked.  
  
Wood shook his head no.  
  
Charlie was about to protest, when Rebecca jumped in and said, "I just saw Bill pass, so I am going to go ahead up stairs since I needed to talk to him. When you get up there and are changed and everything, just come get me from my room, okay?"  
  
Rebecca didn't give Charlie a chance to respond, because she gave him a quick kiss on his cheek and then dashed off to catch up with Bill.  
  
Rebecca caught Bill before he got to much farther towards the Gryffindor tower. They walked into the common room together as Bill explained to Rebecca the answer to the vampire question she posed to him the previous night. After Bill felt that Rebecca had a good grasp on the answer, they parted and Rebecca went upstairs to change.  
  
Rebecca changed into a lot warmer clothes but still felt cold. She was about to walk down to sit by the fire when she remembered two things.  
  
One was that she told Charlie that she would be in her room. She didn't know whether he had made it up to his room to change yet or not, because if he had then he would be wondering where she was at when he came to the room and she wasn't there.  
  
The second thing, which had more of an impact on Rebecca's decision to stay in her room, was that Ryan wanted to talk to her alone and she didn't want to talk to him until his skin was back to normal and his temper had a chance to cool down.  
  
Rebecca opened the door to the dorm so that Charlie could see that she was ready and flipped open her school bag and started to pull out her books to see what homework need to be done that night. She had just finished sort them out on her bed when there was a tap at the window.  
  
Rebecca cautiously walked over to the window not sure what was going on. She looked out and saw that there was an owl there, but not just any owl. It was the same brown barn owl that had delivered the letter from the lawyer's in December.  
  
Rebecca stared at it for a moment and then opened the window to get the letter from it. As soon as Rebecca removed the letter, the owl flew off leaving Rebecca alone to read what the lawyer sent. Rebecca walked over to her bed, sat down on the corner facing the open door, and read the letter.  
  
Miss Carter,  
  
This letter is to inform you that you have an appointment on Saturday, April 28th. There is nothing you need to do to set up your trip. Professor Dumbledore has already approved your leaving school grounds for that weekend and your train ticket is already bought and enclosed. You will be riding the Hogwarts' Express into London and some from the office will be there to pick you up. Your train leaves Hogsmeade at 9pm Friday and will leave London on Sunday at 11am.  
  
Sincerely,  
  
Jasper Spangler  
  
Rebecca reread it a couple of times and then remembered what the other letters had told her. Her mind raced wildly trying to get everything straight in her head. She slid onto the floor in a daze.  
  
A still green Russel walked past the open door. Curious on why the door was open he looked into see Rebecca sitting on the floor just staring at the letter.  
  
"Hey Rebecca?" Russel started.  
  
Rebecca didn't respond so he continued, "Rebecca, I was wondering if you could help me with some of my potions' homework."  
  
No response.  
  
Russel stood in the door way, but didn't dare take another step into the room, because he didn't want to scare her again. He was about to say something else when he heard foot steps coming up the stairs. Russel looked around to see who anyone was coming. It was Charlie who was a bit more than just surprised to see Russel standing in front of an open door to the fifth year Gryffindor girls' dorm room that Rebecca was suppose to be in.  
  
Before Charlie could say or do anything, Russel quickly asked, "Is there something wrong with Rebecca?"  
  
Those were the magic words, instead of running up and decking Russel like he wanted to, Charlie rushed up to see what was up with Rebecca. He peered into the room and saw that Rebecca was just sitting there.  
  
"Hey, Becca," Charlie said as he stepped into the room.  
  
As before, Rebecca didn't respond. Charlie looked quizzically at Russel who just shrugged and looked at Rebecca concerned something might really wrong.  
  
"Becca, you okay?" Charlie asked as he crouched down beside her.  
  
Rebecca still didn't say anything. It wasn't until Charlie gently touched her shoulder that she realized that he was there.  
  
"Oh, I am so sorry," she started. "My mind was just spinning around and I didn't realize that you were there."  
  
As Rebecca said this, Charlie looked down at her hands and saw that the letter was from the lawyers. He knew that was what started Rebecca thinking so deeply.  
  
Not wanting to have Rebecca explain what the letter was about in front of Russel, Charlie said, "That's okay. I wasn't the one that you really ignored the most, anyways. Come on let's get our books and go get some studying done before dinner."  
  
Charlie took a hold of Rebecca's hands to help her up.  
  
"You're hands are still cold," Charlie said as he pulled Rebecca up.  
  
"Is everything alright, Rebecca?" Russel asked before Rebecca could respond to Charlie.  
  
Rebecca was dumbfounded she had no clue how long Russel had been standing there, but something inside her told her that he had been there before Charlie came in. She had no clue what to say. Luckily, Charlie answered for her.  
  
"She fine. Just got a chill in Herbology. Come on Becca, we'll forget about the studying for right now and go sit by the fire to get you warmed up," Charlie said ushering Rebecca, who still had the letter in her hand, down the stairs.  
  
There was an open space on the couch in front of the fire when Rebecca and Charlie entered the common room.  
  
As they sat down, Charlie asked, "Do you want to talk about the letter?"  
  
Rebecca looked around the room and saw the Blue Ryan glaring at her along with the pink Cassie and some other colorful Slytherins scattered in groups through out the room and Russel walked in and looked over at them.  
  
"Not right now. Maybe later," Rebecca said as she turned back towards the fire and laid her head on Charlie's shoulder.  
  
"That's okay," Charlie whispered then he started to softly sing:  
  
"'Cause I am hanging on every word you say  
  
And even if you don't want to speak tonight  
  
That's alright, alright with me  
  
'Cause I want nothing more than to sit  
  
Outside heaven's door and listen to you breathing  
  
Is where I want to be"  
  
Rebecca smiled and handed him the letter she was still holding so that Charlie could read it himself.  
  
Charlie took it and read the note.  
  
After he finished, he asked, "It got you thinking about everything again didn't it?"  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca softly whispered back. "I hadn't thought about it since we started dating and the letter just triggered a whirlwind of thought that I couldn't stop at first."  
  
"You think you will be fine now?"  
  
"Um, don't know just yet. ... Promise me that you won't let me get as obsessed about the what-ifs as I was before."  
  
Charlie wrapped his arms around her as he said, "I'll try my best."  
  
Rebecca looked up and sweetly smiled at him to let him now that his trying was all she wanted.  
  
The two sat there for until it was time for dinner unaware that Ryan and Russel were watching there every move as they discussed what transpired upstairs.  
  
"So you walked past the room and she was just sitting there and didn't respond to anything?" Ryan asked Russel for what seemed like the hundredth time.  
  
"Yes, that is what I said," Russel responded slightly exasperated.  
  
"She didn't even bat an eye when Weasley tried. She just kept looking at that letter she just handed to Weasley. It took Weasley touching her to get her to respond and then she acted like she didn't know how long she had been like that."  
  
"Wonder what was in that letter?"  
  
"Maybe you should ask her?"  
  
"Maybe, when she actually will give me the time of day to talk to her."  
  
"Maybe if you did accuse her of changing us colors every time you talked to her, she wouldn't be so defensive."  
  
"But she did," Ryan said in a slightly raised voice.  
  
"Hey, I am with you. I believe she had something to do with it. Heck she's got a motive enough to get you and me both, but I also think that she didn't lie in front of Professor Snape. She has worked out this plan so that there was nothing that you could solidly catch her with. I say cut your losses and just drop it. ... And before you go and try to start a prank war, may I remind you that you started it with the snake in her bed and that she has allies in Cathrine Tyson and Colin Piper. With those two, she'll be able to hit you when you less expected and worse than you could ever possible get her." Ryan looked at him a moment, got a look on his face that let Russel know what he was thinking, and was about to say something when Russel said, "I didn't help you with the snake and I am not helping you any pranks against her. I am slowly getting her to not see me as a monster and I don't intent do anything to destroy that."  
  
"You are really stuck on her aren't you?"  
  
"What can I say? Your cousin is an amazing person. I just went about telling her that wrong way."  
  
"Yeah, my 'cousin' is," Ryan whispered as he stared at Rebecca and Charlie who had just gotten up to go to dinner with the rest of their group. Cassie who had left to gather up all of the colored Slytherin students so they could go to dinner together came back to where Ryan and Russel were sitting.  
  
"Everyone else is all ready to go down to dinner. Are you two ready?" she asked.  
  
"Yep," Ryan answered as he and Russel got up.  
  
"Personally I don't see why I, um, we have to go down there. It isn't like we did this to ourselves. I hope they get whoever was involved with it and expelled them." Cassie started as she led the way to dinner. "Ryan, why don't you talk to your cousin? I am sure she knows exactly who did this to me, uh, us and why."  
  
Ryan rolled his eyes and said, "How about we just wait and see how long it lasts, first. If it goes on for too much longer I will have a talk with Rebecca. Maybe she can suggest something for us to do to reverse it."  
  
Cassie wasn't satisfied with the first part of Ryan's answer and demanded, "And why can't you do that right now? It has been a very embarrassing day for all of us and I for one would like it to be cleared up so tomorrow isn't the same."  
  
"Because, if the color starts to fade, then it was temporary. Anything Rebecca suggests might prolong it from clearing up or change us to some other color because of a reaction with what ever caused it in the first place, okay?"  
  
"I guess," Cassie started to pout as they entered the Great Hall.  
  
Cassie pouted or at least pretended to pout all through dinner. Ryan and Russel knew it was more for show, because everyone was paying attention to 'poor' Cassie and Cassie loved to be the center of attention. When dinner was finally over, Ryan tried to get Rebecca's attention as Charlie left to go to practice with the rest of his teammates.  
  
Ryan, who now just wanted to talk to Rebecca alone about the letter she receive and catch up on what was going with her life other than she was dating Charlie now, failed at getting Rebecca to notice him. Sara and Jacquelyn had pretty much dragged Rebecca up the stairs after Charlie left. When Ryan got up to the common room with the still complaining Cassie ("Oh, I wish people wouldn't make such a fuss over me. It was so embarrassing. I just wanted to shrink a way and not have anyone notice me like this."), Rebecca had already settled down at a table with Sara and Jacquelyn to work on some homework. James and Colin soon joined them.  
  
Ryan got his homework and settled down at a table near Rebecca so that if she was suddenly alone he could quickly get her attention, but it seemed that the Gryffindor group was doing a lot more talking than homework at the moment. Colin with his quick fire quips kept the group laughing.  
  
Russel dared to ask if he could sit with them and work on his homework with them, which they reluctantly agreed to only because they didn't want to get in trouble for not being good hosts.  
  
"Oh is that what you think we are doing?" Colin joked as Russel took a seat trying to break the tension.  
  
Rebecca laughed and said, "I was just waiting around for the next great homework argument between Jacquelyn and James."  
  
"Oh don't worry it is coming, but I think we might move so that we don't disturb too many people," Jacquelyn responded with a playful smile.  
  
"Good luck finding room to go to," Sara sarcastically said.  
  
"Yeah, it looks like we all will be studying together again tonight," James stated as he surveyed the room and saw that there were no more open tables.  
  
Russel looked at the group and asked, "You don't study together every night?"  
  
"Oh, no," said Sara as Rebecca shook her head no and Jacquelyn stated, "We would never get anything done."  
  
"We'll be the last ones to leave tonight for sure," added Colin with a devilish smile on his face.  
  
Russel's face showed that he didn't quite comprehend why they all acted like what he suggested was a bad thing, so James explained, "We don't study together usually, because we enjoy each others company so much that we end up distracting each other from the task at hand. I assure you yesterday if you saw us all together and dedicated to our studies, it was a fluke. Normally, when Charlie, Greg, and Cathrine come back from practice, we split up into pairs and find our usual spots to study at. Then when we are all done we hang out and try not to laugh the night away."  
  
"Oh," Russel said. "So you guys aren't studying yet?"  
  
"Nope I am waiting for Greg," stated Sara.  
  
Rebecca added, "I'm waiting for Charlie."  
  
"I got to wait for Cathrine. It isn't much fun to do homework without her," piped in Colin. There was a pause and then the black haired jokester playfully added, "Oh course these two are the worst." He pointed at James and Jacquelyn. "They could be starting theirs, but do they? No they wait and then they race with us to see who finishes first and it usually isn't them."  
  
"Oh if we started now it would only give us more time to disagree with each others way to get the right answers," James said nonchalantly as Jacquelyn shook her head in agreement.  
  
Russel was taken back by how loose knit this group that always seemed to always around each appeared after that conversation.  
  
'I know I have seen them all together most of the time in the halls, but it's almost like they are sitting together right now not because they want to, but because there isn't space enough for them to be at their own table right now,' he thought to himself.  
  
Russel was about to say something to find out whether his assumption was true, when Charlie, Greg, and Cathrine came strolling in.  
  
"How was practice?" Rebecca asked as Charlie gave her a kiss on her cheek.  
  
"Good we got to stay inside and stay dry much to the chagrin of Wood," Cathrine volunteered as she suspiciously eyed Russel wondering what he was doing at their table.  
  
Charlie pulled up a chair and said, "I told him this afternoon, it wasn't worth getting us all sick before a match."  
  
Greg added, "I am glad he listened to you. The match against Ravenclaw is too close for someone to get sick."  
  
"You guys all ready to study?" Jacquelyn asked trying to get the group on the right track.  
  
"Yeah, just let us go get our books," Charlie said as the three quidditch players got back up. They returned moments later with their books and Russel experienced first hand what it was like to try to do homework with that particular Gryffindor group.  
  
After about a half of an hour of trying to concentrate on his own homework, he declared, "I can't do this. You guys just keep going and going and I don't believe you could possibly have your homework done before midnight. Sorry, I have to move so that I can at least get something down on paper."  
  
The whole group just looked at him as he gathered up his stuff and found a seat at the table where Ryan was doing his homework.  
  
"I didn't think we were doing that bad," Colin said. "I almost had a book open."  
  
The group chuckled.  
  
"Well that is one way to scare someone off," commented Rebecca with a slight smirk that let Charlie know that she was truly glad Russel was gone.  
  
The group then tried to settle down and really get things down. There were a few interruptions though. Chelsea Drown came over to ask James a question on Charms while Lauren and Carolyn hit up Rebecca for tips on a potion they were to be doing in class the next day.  
  
As time passed the room started to empty. Students who were done with everything decided it was best to lounge around in their rooms that night. Ryan waited patiently as the hours passed for an opportunity to talk to Rebecca, but her group was going strong. No one left the table, until finally at eleven o'clock they all shut their books and announced that they had just finished and headed up to bed. Ryan sighed as he gathered up his stuff he would have to wait until the next day to try to talk to Rebecca. The next morning Ryan woke up early and got dressed hoping that if he hung out in the common room long enough Rebecca might come down by herself.  
  
Unfortunately for him, Cassie came down before Rebecca did. She was really excited because her skin was back to its normal color. Ryan looked down at his arm and saw that he was no longer blue.  
  
"Didn't you notice before, silly?" Cassie asked barely able to stifle her giddiness.  
  
"I guess I really was in a daze when I got ready this morning," Ryan said hoping that Cassie would buy that line so he wouldn't have to explain that he wanted to talk to Rebecca alone.  
  
"Well come on let's go to breakfast. I think Akira and Toby might already be down there."  
  
"Go ahead with out me I need to talk to Rebecca for a second."  
  
"What do you need to talk to her for right now? We changed back we don't need an antidote. You can talk to her later. Come on." Cassie pulled him out of the chair and towards the door.  
  
'I guess she is right. I am sort of hungry and I can catch Rebecca maybe right after breakfast,' Ryan thought as he stepped out the portrait.  
  
Ryan was wrong though. Rebecca walked in late to breakfast and dashed out with her friends when it was time to get to class. Since they didn't have any classes together that day, Ryan decided he could try again at lunch.  
  
At lunch though, Colin had gotten the whole group laughing. Rebecca started to cough while she was laughing and couldn't stop. She got up and left. Ryan kept his eyes on the doors to see when Rebecca came back in, but she never did.  
  
Dinner was a little quieter and it looked like Ryan might have a chance as it appeared that Rebecca walked in by herself. He was about to get up and talk to her, when Cathrine came running in with Colin, causing Ryan to sit back down. After dinner, Rebecca got up from the table with all of her friends. Ryan sat there for another half and hour picking at his food. Cassie and his friends tried to get him to leave with them but to no avail. He just wanted some time alone to think.  
  
'I'll never get to talk to her if she is always surrounded. I better figure some other way to approach her,' he thought as he got up and walked up to the Gryffindor tower.  
  
Ryan walked into the common room and noticed something unusual. Rebecca was in the room with out any of her friends around.  
  
'Good, she actually isn't surrounded by those lackeys of hers. Maybe now we can actually talk.' he thought to himself.  
  
He looked around and saw that Jacquelyn was in the room, but was talking to Russel and looked like she wouldn't be done any time soon. Ryan walked up to Rebecca who was sitting at the table absorbed in her studies or at least that is what he thought. As he came to look at her face, he found that she had actually managed to fall asleep with her head propped up by here left arm. Rebecca still had the quill she was using to write her History of Magic essay in her right hand.  
  
'I don't believe it. It looks like she fell asleep mid-sentence,' Ryan thought as he examined his childhood friend's homework and sleeping position. 'That can't be comfortable. There must be something wrong. I should probably wake her up, but she looks so peaceful.'  
  
After a moment, Ryan decided that he better wake her up. He gently tapped her on her left shoulder. Rebecca remained asleep from being tapped, but her left arm moved slightly and her head hit the table before Ryan even knew what had happened.  
  
"Ouch!" Rebecca exclaimed suddenly awakened by the pain inflicted. She looked over to see Ryan looking at her with a shocked expression.  
  
"I-I-I," he stuttered.  
  
Before he could get another word out, Rebecca sighed and said, "You know Malfoy, I could probably help you figure out what made you turn colors. I am sure that it would be a safer way to get people to turn black and blue than this way."  
  
Ryan sort of chuckled and then took as seat as Rebecca rubbed where her head made contact with the table.  
  
"I am sure that you could, but I really don't want to turn you black and blue. I actually wanted to talk to you about a few things," Ryan said.  
  
"Okay, what?" asked Rebecca.  
  
"Well most of it revolves around us." Ryan paused for a moment and looked around the room as Rebecca gave him a questioning look, and then he continued, "I don't like how we are acting towards each other. It is like we are out to get each other."  
  
"Don't you remember anything?"  
  
Ryan looked at Rebecca confused on what she meant. Rebecca went ahead and explained, "Kid, it sort of always has been this way. We have times when we are unseparateable and then we have time when we just want our own space. The latter is when we have our quarrels and things like me causing you social suicide or you trying to literally kill me happen."  
  
"I didn't try to kill you."  
  
"You were putting a snake up to my face!" Rebecca shuttered at the thought and Ryan finally felt a little guilty at what he had done.  
  
"Oh, I guess I forgot how incredibly scared you were of them. I guess I should have stopped when you were still shaking after I picked up the snake."  
  
"You think."  
  
"Listen, I am really sorry about it. It was an impetuous thing that I did. I was just upset."  
  
"About what?"  
  
"Things that you were doing with Weasley and the other Gryffindors. I had somehow convinced myself that you had put on this façade so that people won't know that you were lonely here and that you were acting different because of that. When I heard that we would be moving in here temporarily, I thought that it would be like it was before. You would be ecstatic that I was here and sort of ditch them. We would be talking or around each other constantly, but that isn't the way it's been. I got upset; because I lost my childhood best friend and that I was being replaced."  
  
"Oh," Rebecca softly said as she thought of what Ryan said. "Ryan, I will always remember all the times we had together growing up. No one is going to take your spot as my childhood best friend."  
  
'She called me Ryan! Maybe everything will be okay now' Ryan thought to himself as he listened to Rebecca.  
  
"So I have been acting like a fool, thinking that someone was going to steal you away from me?" Ryan sighed.  
  
"Yeah, you pretty much drove me away yourself."  
  
Ryan quickly scanned Rebecca's face to see how take her comment, but it didn't help him understand. Rebecca sensed that she had confused him, which was fine with her because she didn't understand his statement about her being stolen away.  
  
They both looked at each other trying to figure out what the other meant.  
  
Rebecca finally said, "Let's call a truce for at least as long as you are staying here and at least try to act like we are the friends we are. No more transfiguring snakes or telling stories that lead to social suicide. Sound good?"  
  
"What about candy that changes you color?"  
  
"You're still on that?"  
  
"I know you did it."  
  
"You haven't proven anything. And I will tell you this, I have answered every question truthfully, so you are going to have to drop it or drive yourself mad trying to pin it on me."  
  
Ryan could sense that he was about to push Rebecca over the edge even though she calmly said it so he tried to cool back down their conversation by saying, "Fine, I'll drop it as long as it is part of the truce still. ... I am not saying that you did it. Only that you could figure out how to do it without blinking an eye and that means you could have done it."  
  
"Okay, fine. Truce." Rebecca offered her had to Ryan.  
  
He took it and began to smile as they shook on the truce.  
  
They let go of each others hand and Rebecca turned back to her essay to try and figure out where she left off. Ryan was about to leave her in peace when he remembered something that he wanted to ask her.  
  
"Uh, Rebecca, are you feeling okay?"  
  
Rebecca looked up at him and gave him a puzzled face and defensively asked, "Why do you ask?"  
  
"Because you were asleep when I walked into the room and from everything that I observed it seems that you fell asleep instantly even though you were writing."  
  
"Oh, I'm sorry I thought you were going to tell me that you slipped something in my food to make me feel ill," Rebecca sweetly explained. "To tell you the truth I do feel a little under the weather, but it is probably just the cold, rainy weather. I am sure I will feel fine tomorrow."  
  
"Okay. Let me know if you don't, okay?"  
  
Rebecca nodded her head in agreement. She turned back to her homework with a smile and thought, 'I knew that old Ryan I knew was in there somewhere.'  
  
Rebecca continued with writing her history essay. Charlie showed up shortly after.  
  
He sat down next to her and before Rebecca could say even 'Hi!' to him, he asked, "Becca, are you feeling okay? I know you have a smile on your face, but you look really pale and sort of on the tired side."  
  
Rebecca looked at him and said in her raspy voice, "No, I really don't. I guess I fell asleep working on this." Rebecca tapped her essay. "Ryan woke me up and asked if I felt okay..." As Rebecca continued to tell what all transpired between Ryan and her starting with the inquiry of health and going backwards to the truce and then to her head hitting the table, Charlie tucked a strain of hair behind Rebecca's ear and listened.  
  
When she finished, he said, "Well I am glad that you made up. It seems to me that you both know enough about each other to make each other miserable if you wanted to. I know you aren't related, but you two could pull it off. I know the only people who could get half of a Malfoy type trick is my family."  
  
Rebecca laughed and added, "Yeah, I think that is why Cassie has believed it as long as she has. I won't envy Ryan when she finds out that it isn't true. Can you imagine how much she is going to complain at him about it. It will go one forever."  
  
They both laughed and then started to study for the rest of the night. They were close to finishing when Charlie looked up at Rebecca with a puzzled look on his face.  
  
"What's the matter?" Rebecca asked. "Is something confusing you with Charms?"  
  
"Um, no actually this has nothing to do with the homework."  
  
"Really? What got you perplexed?"  
  
"Where was everyone else when Greg, Cathrine, and I were at practice?"  
  
"Well, Colin said that he needed to do some research for a prank. I am guessing an escape route. James had to do rounds. Jacquelyn sat here for a while, but Russel came over and she struck up a conversation with him about dancing. She ended up dragging him off to show him something and she never came back."  
  
Charlie had tensed up when he heard Russel tried to talk to Rebecca, but relaxed when Rebecca said that Jacquelyn ran inference.  
  
'Good for Jacquelyn. As Greg said yesterday morning, Rebecca can handle Malfoy,' Charlie thought as he turned back to his books, 'Russel is really the one that we need to watch out for. . But still there should have been someone else watching out for her.'  
  
Charlie then quickly asked, "Where was Bill at?"  
  
"He had to help some first years with their charms homework and then he had rounds to do. Why do you ask?" Rebecca said when she finished.  
  
Charlie was not ready for that question and had to do some quick thinking.  
  
"Oh, I was just wondering why everyone wasn't at this table waiting for us like last night and with Bill I just didn't know where he was at," he finally said.  
  
"Okay," Rebecca said going back to working on her homework as she thought, 'They were all watching out for me. That has to be why he asked. I bet they were trying to do it without Flint or Malfoy knowing it, and figured it would be easier if I was out of the loop too. I wish they didn't have to worry so much.'  
  
It didn't take much longer for the two to finish their homework and then they headed up to bed.  
  
Up in her room, Rebecca found a letter on her bed from Stacy and Stacy's owl perched on the window sill.  
  
Dear Rebecca,  
  
I hope you got the candy okay. I don't know whether the weather slowed down my owl or not. Anyways, I know you are getting like three letters in a row from me, but I have to ask you something. As you know, Ty and I are dating. Well, he received a letter from his old girlfriend from Durmstang they other day. Her name is Emily and I don't know a lot about her other than the mention of her name made Ty reminisce about his days at his old school incisively. I am going to have to get more info about her, but I don't know how to go about it. Does Charlie have any ex-girlfriends that you have had to learn about? I really need help.  
  
Hope everything is going well. Let me know what is going on with you.  
  
Later,  
  
Stacy  
  
Rebecca walked over and picked up a piece of parchment and quickly wrote a note to Stacy telling her that Charlie hadn't had a girlfriend before him so she had no experience on researching ex-girlfriends. She tried to give a few suggestions to get Ty to talk about Emily, but she didn't know whether any of them would work.  
  
After finishing that part of the letter, Rebecca thanked her for the candy and told her a little about the prank that the girls had pulled with the candy. She promised to send a copy of the picture Cathrine took after it was developed and asked her not to mention it in any letters that Stacy sent to her, so that there is no danger of it accidentally falling in to the wrong hands. Rebecca signed the finished letter and then walked over to the owl to give him the letter.  
  
After the owl flew away, she got ready to go to bed and fall asleep. The next day Rebecca woke up really early, because she felt horrible. She was achy and her throat was sore. After she tossed and turned for awhile, she got out of bed, got dressed, and decided that she would head on down to breakfast.  
  
Quickly, she scribbled down a note to let the other girls know where she went so they would worry about where she was. As she walked out of the room she heard another set of footsteps. Rebecca walked down to the common room curious of who was ready to go to breakfast besides her.  
  
She reached the bottom of the steps and peered into the room to see who the owner of the foot steps she heard was. After a second she noticed, Russel was the person she heard. He was standing in the middle of the common room, holding his books and a piece of parchment, and looking right at her. Rebecca was startled and jumped back tripping herself up on the steps. Luckily she didn't fall.  
  
As Rebecca regained her balance, Russel said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you I just wanted to know who else was up."  
  
"That's okay," Rebecca hoarsely said.  
  
"Are you feeling okay? You look a little pale."  
  
"My throat is a little sore."  
  
"Sorry to hear that. ... Um, are you heading down to breakfast?"  
  
Rebecca slowly nodded her head.  
  
"Mind if I walk with you. I wanted to talk to you about my behavior."  
  
Rebecca eyed him not sure what she should answer.  
  
"I promise you I won't try anything."  
  
"Okay, then."  
  
Rebecca, with her hand stuck in the pocket that her wand was in, walked out of the room followed closely by Russel.  
  
As they headed down the stairs, Russel said, "Ryan said that you two called a truce."  
  
"Yeah, what about it?" Rebecca defensively responded.  
  
"Well, I was wondering if we could call a truce too."  
  
Rebecca gave him a questioning look.  
  
Russel noticed and quickly added, "Well, not exactly a truce more of a promise that I won't do any more ... well you know what I have done and also anything that I have thought up but didn't do."  
  
Rebecca flinched when Russel admitted that he had other plans to get her to be his, but quickly gained her composure to ask, "What do I have to do to get that promise?"  
  
"Nothing, if you don't want to. Um, maybe just talk to me every once in a while. Get to know me better, learn who I really am. Find out how truly sorry I am for not controlling myself. I hope that you might be able to forgive me for everything that I have done."  
  
"Clemency!" Rebecca croaked "You want clemency for everything that you have done to me!"  
  
"Well, yes, but not right now and not any time soon either. I know I had your trust at Christmas, but I completely destroyed it by everything I did. As you said Sunday, 'trust is really easy to gain the first time around, but if something happens to destroy that trust, it is hard to get back.' I know that after everything I have done, I have to show you that I was worthy the first time you trusted me and am worthy of getting it back. I realize that it is going to take really long while, but your friendship is worth it. Plain and simple."  
  
"So you want me as a friend, now?"  
  
"Yeah. I really like you and I always will. You're a great person to be around. You're sweet and polite to everyone even those who don't deserve it like me. I didn't deserve to be thanked for helping out with the snake situation, but you still thanked me. Being friends with you would be perfect for me. I like the way you interact with your friends with the joking, the laughing, the sharing, and everything else. I'd like to be part of that."  
  
Rebecca looked at him and hesitantly said, "And what if I decide that we aren't going to be friends or I ask you to leave me alone when you come to talk to me? Are you going to go back to cursing me and everything?"  
  
"No, that will be part of the promise too. I will not bewitch you to make you be my friend or something more, okay?"  
  
Rebecca thought about what Russel said as they walked down the main stairs towards the Great Hall.  
  
"Okay, I accept your promise," Rebecca finally said as she stuck out her hand for him to shake. Russel smiled, switched his books and the piece of parchment he was holding to his left hand, and shook Rebecca's hand.  
  
"What's on the parchment?" Rebecca asked as they let go of each other's hands and entered the Great Hall.  
  
Russel looked down and said, "Nothing of any importance, now."  
  
"Oh," Rebecca said as she thought to herself, 'Must have been another letter to me telling me everything about this truce idea of his. . At least I don't have to worry about him anymore. Funny though, I swear that was the same guy I got to know over Christmas. Maybe it was his emotions getting the best of him that made me think that that guy was an illusion.'  
  
They separated and sat down at their respective tables.  
  
Rebecca sat down at the Gryffindor table and started to fill her plate as she wait for her friends to join her. The doors of the Great Hall opened a little later. Rebecca looked over to see who was coming in the door. It was Lennon McCartney, the sixth year perfect for Ravenclaw. The dark brown haired girl of average height was not alone.  
  
Much to Rebecca's surprise Bill had escorted Lennon into the room. The two separated to go to their house tables, but not before Bill kissed her hand. Rebecca's jaw dropped and she just stared at the two. Bill turn to see Rebecca had seen everything. Almost instantly his face turned as red as his hair. He sighed and walked towards Rebecca who was just about to bust from excitement.  
  
"I didn't know you two were dating," Rebecca said excitedly as Bill took a seat next to her.  
  
Bill looked at her and seriously said, "You can't tell anyone."  
  
"Why not?" Rebecca protested.  
  
"Because Lennon and I aren't telling anyone yet."  
  
"But."  
  
Rebecca couldn't finish her sentence; Bill had put his left hand over her mouth and his right hand on the back of her neck so that she couldn't move back as he explained, "We haven't told anyone yet, because it hasn't been that long and we are having fun with a bet on how long we can keep it from the someone close to us. I got to keep this from Charlie and Lennon has to keep it from her friend, Jenna Moliby, who is a perfect, I think. So please until I tell you, keep this secret for me. Please."  
  
Rebecca shook her head to tell Bill that she would and Bill released her so she could talk again.  
  
Before Rebecca could say or ask anything though, Bill asked, "What are you doing down here so early?"  
  
"I couldn't sleep anymore so I got up and came down here," Rebecca explained and then thinking of what she just saw, she added really quietly, "Sort of glad I did."  
  
Bill didn't hear the last part, because he had been looking around the room to see who else was already there and his eyes fell upon Russel.  
  
"Becca, did you come down by yourself?"  
  
"No," Rebecca slowly responded. "Russel walked down with me."  
  
"Really? . Anything happen?" Bill protectively asked.  
  
"Um, yeah," Rebecca started. Bill was about jumped to his feet, but his brother's girlfriend then started to tell him about the truce with Russel. "I have to admit he was very cogent, but that wasn't why I accepted it."  
  
Bill was shocked. "Then why did you accept it?"  
  
Rebecca took a breath and then sadly said, "To give everyone a break from watching out for me."  
  
"What?" Bill hesitantly asked.  
  
"Don't play dumb with me, please, Bill. I know that you are in on it too. . You, Charlie, the rest of the guys and even the girls formed a network that was supposed to be hidden to me, but I figured it out."  
  
"Figured what out?" asked Charlie as he and the rest of the gang took seats around Bill and Rebecca.  
  
Bill answered, "Rebecca found out that we were working so that she wouldn't ever be alone with Malfoy or Flint. She has a truce with Flint now."  
  
"What?!" the others said in unison.  
  
Rebecca started into the same explanation she gave Bill. Everyone looked at her like she was nuts for accepting Russel's promise.  
  
"You don't actually trust him to keep that promise do you?" asked Charlie really concerned about what Rebecca might have gotten herself in.  
  
"Part of me does. The other part doesn't. I just wanted to give you all a break. I know I was tried of having to watch my back and you all have to feel the same way. Besides, if I tell him to leave me alone he said he would. If he doesn't I get to tell him that he broke his promise and that he has no chance of me ever wanting to know him. The idea that I can say that may keep him in line."  
  
"Okay," Charlie said as he filled his plate not sure what to think of any of this. 


	16. Broken Promises

CHAPTER 16 - BROKEN PROMISES  
  
Despite some of the initial reserves for the truce with Russel, Rebecca enjoyed the next few days. Russel was good to his word. He came and talked to Rebecca for short conversations and if she told him to leave he would. This allowed Rebecca to have freedoms that she hadn't had in a long time like going to the library, walking in the halls by herself, and sitting in the common room. Even Charlie seemed to relax; he stopped worrying about who Rebecca was around while he was away.  
  
If it wasn't for her feeling under the weather Rebecca would have been in heaven. She managed to get through the rest of the week, but each day she felt a little bit worse. Rebecca just couldn't get over her cough and started to feel achy with some chest pain and shortness of breathe.  
  
By Saturday, Rebecca was ready to stay in bed all day she was so tried, but unfortunately, she couldn't since she needed to eat. She came into the common room after breakfast with every intention to head right back up to bed even though she had gotten dressed already. However Lauren had different plans for Rebecca.  
  
"Hey Rebecca, I need to go to find the Portrait of Sir Cadogan to get some information for my history homework. Do you know where that is at?" Lauren asked coming up as she came up to sick fifth year.  
  
Rebecca looked at her and softly said, "Well, I am not really sure exactly where he is at. I think he is hanging somewhere near the North Tower. . I bet you could use that map I gave you in the fall to find it."  
  
Lauren's face lite up.  
  
"I hadn't thought about using that!"  
  
Lauren ran over to her bag and started to look of the map. After a few minutes she had everything out of her bag, but didn't have the map. Rebecca, who's curious had been peaked with Lauren inquiry, came over to see where the map said the painting was and saw Lauren getting more and more distressed as she looked through her stuff again.  
  
"It was in here," Lauren said starting to search every pocket in her bag.  
  
"Maybe it is up in your room," Rebecca suggested as she looked over the papers that the first year had taken out of her bag.  
  
Lauren thought for a moment and said, "No, it's not. I cleaned up all my stuff upstairs yesterday after dinner and I didn't see it. The last time I saw it was in my bag, but that was a while ago."  
  
"It might have just fallen out sometime in the hall. . Come on let's go hunt down that painting."  
  
"Oh, you don't have to go."  
  
"I know, but I am curious to hear where Sir Cadogan is now so I am going to go. Come on let's go ask the Fat Lady how to get to him."  
  
Lauren shook her head gathered up her school supplies and shoved them back into her bag. The two girls then headed out of the door.  
  
The Fat Lady told the girls exactly how to find the painting in question. They had no problem following the directions and got to the location fairly quickly. Getting the information that Lauren needed from the knight was another matter.  
  
After about 45 minutes, Lauren had all of her question answered. Though at another painting they might have been done in ten minutes, Sir Cadogan insisted on reenacting accounts as he answered the inquiries.  
  
Rebecca was about to tell Lauren that she was going to head back before she passed out when Lauren thanked Cadogan and walked towards Rebecca as the knight kept going on and on about the last question. Both girls looked each other and shrugged as they walked away from the chattering painting and headed back to the common room.  
  
Upon entering the room Rebecca looked around to tell Charlie what had happened, but he was no where to be found. The fact of the matter was that none of her friends were in the room, Ryan included. She stood looking around the room convinced that they were actual there she was just sick enough that she was over looking them.  
  
"Rebecca, you looking for something?" asked Russel came up.  
  
Rebecca shook herself out of her daze and looked at him as she said, "Oh, I was looking for Charlie and the rest of the gang."  
  
Rebecca started to cough while Russel told her that the others departed from the room in various groups. Charlie, Greg, and Cathrine headed out together while James and Sara walked out a short while later with Jacquelyn and Colin left after that.  
  
"Oh," Rebecca managed to get out through her coughing fit.  
  
"Rebecca, do you need to go to the hospital wing? . I'll take you. It isn't a problem."  
  
She instantly muffled her coughs and softly said, "Thank you for your concern, but I think I am just going to head up to my room and take a nap."  
  
"Okay, if you need anything let me know.  
  
Rebecca shook her head and headed up the stairs. Unfortunately, on her way up the stairs, Rebecca tripped and fell.  
  
"Ouch!" she yelled as she hit the steps.  
  
"Rebecca, are you okay?" Russel called up the steps.  
  
"Yeah, I just tripped," Rebecca called back as she quickly got up and headed the rest of the way up the stairs looking at her right hand to see that she had scraped it pretty bad.  
  
She walked into the room and straight to the bathroom. After taking Charlie's ring off and setting it on the edge of the sink where it would be safe from falling down the drain, Rebecca washed her hand so that she wouldn't have to worry about a trip to the infirmary for that.  
  
She started coughing again as she walked over to her bed. Rebecca picked up her copy of Quidditch through the Ages, as she flopped down and drew her bed curtains so that it was closed except for a sliver for some fresh air.  
  
Rebecca was about to drift off to sleep as she read her book for the hundredth time, when the door to the room opened the door.  
  
Assuming that it was one of the other girls, she didn't think anything of it, until she heard a familiar male voice say "What are we doing?"  
  
Rebecca lifted up her head to see that Dan and Russel walking into the room.  
  
Horrified, Rebecca sunk back into her bed as Russel answered, "Rebecca's been in the bathroom for a long time. I just want to make see if she is okay."  
  
"How do you know that?" Dan asked the question that raced through Rebecca's mind.  
  
"This map," Russel responded heading closer to the bathroom. "She's in here."  
  
"That map's cool! Where did you get it?"  
  
The Slytherin seeker stopped right in front of the opening of Rebecca's curtains as he answered, "I took it from that little Mudblood that she likes so much a while back and then cast a spell on the ring and the map so that I always know where she is at."  
  
Rebecca's blood was boiling when Dan asked, "What ring?"  
  
"Well she thinks it is the one that that loser Weasley gave her, but it was actually one that I did, because the other one wouldn't take the charm for it to work with the map," Russel explained as he walked to the bathroom where the fake ring was still on the edge of the sink. "The ring's here, but she isn't. Must be taking a nap."  
  
As Russel headed back towards the stairs, Dan asked, "Don't you want to open the curtains to these beds to and see which on she is in so that you can wake her up and make sure she is fine?"  
  
"No, you git, she is sick. She needs her rest. I just didn't want her passed out on the floor of the bathroom with no one knowing she was there. . Come on, NOW!"  
  
Rebecca slipped out of her bed quietly and followed the boys down the steps as they talked more about the ring switch and how Russel was able to replicate everything about the ring except the RC initials that were on the leaves. "I didn't know they were there until I found the ring on the floor after she fell down the steps. I didn't have time to figure out he did that. I needed to get it back to her quickly so that she didn't suspect the switch. I have been really lucky that she hasn't noticed the one thing that would tell her that it was mine."  
  
The boys went quiet all of the sudden so Rebecca stopped moving down the stairs. She suddenly heard the voice of Lauren say, "Hi, Russel!"  
  
"Hello, Lauren," Russel answered in a very friendly voice. "How are you doing today?"  
  
"Pretty good, other than I am buried with homework."  
  
"Well if you need any help don't hesitant to ask me."  
  
"Thanks! I might take you up on that. Rebecca usually helps me, but I don't think she feels that well, so I probably shouldn't bug her so that she can rest."  
  
"Sounds like a good idea. I'll see you later."  
  
Lauren appeared a moment in front of Rebecca.  
  
To keep the first year from unintentionally blowing her cover, Rebecca quickly approached her and whispered in her ear, "Can you go up to my room and get my ring off of the sink and bring it down to me. I'll explain later."  
  
Lauren shook her head and headed up the stair curious of what Rebecca meant. Rebecca cautiously continued down the stair. The two Slytherins she was following had stopped at the base of the steps and were still softly talking, but not about the ring any more it was about Lauren.  
  
"Yeah, that was the Mudblood that had the map," Russel said with his back towards Rebecca.  
  
Dan had his back turned to her as well so he didn't see her walk up right behind them as he asked, "Doesn't Harvey has a crush on her?"  
  
"From what I hear, we are both in the same boat: In love with girls that won't give us the time of day and hounded by the ones that we could care less about." Dan looked at him confused so Russel explained, "Kirsta is convinced we have something even though I am in love with Rebecca, but she won't give me a chance because of Weasley. Alannah is after Harvey, but he has it bad for Lauren who was dating that O'Donnell boy. Well, from what Marcus tells me Harvey was at least he was able to scare off his competition for Lauren, so he might get her after all."  
  
As Russel laughed at this revelation, Rebecca got madder and madder. She was about to say something that would have blown her cover, but Dan said, "Hey, look at the map."  
  
Russel looked and saw the little Rebecca was moving from the bathroom to the bedroom.  
  
"She must have just woken up. I wonder if she is coming back down," Russel said as he turned around to look up the stairs surprised to be met with the defiant stare of Rebecca as she coolly said, "Really? Because I was just starting to wonder where my real ring is?"  
  
Dan's jaw dropped at the sight of Rebecca standing behind them as Russel stuttered, "Re-Re-Re."  
  
"'Re-Re-Re'" Rebecca imitated before she said, "That doesn't tell me where it is. I WANT MY RING BACK!"  
  
"Rebecca you don't understand."  
  
"I understand. You couldn't just leave me alone. You had to take my ring and switch it with another so that you could track me down. I want my ring back."  
  
"Listen to me first."  
  
"No, I am tired of listening to you. I listened earlier this week and started to think that the nice guy I got to know over Christmas wasn't a just a front, but you were just leading me astray. So give me my real ring back and then get out of my life!"  
  
Russel was getting frustrated. He knew he need to talk to Rebecca about this, but it appeared she wouldn't listen to anything that he said so he needed to think of something.  
  
After a moment, he said, "No! Not until you listen to what I have to say."  
  
Rebecca grimly stared at him as Lauren walked down the steps with wide eyes locked on Russel. The first year, who had actually been just standing on the steps out of sight since Rebecca revealed that she knew about the ring switch, asked in a shaky voice, "Why?"  
  
"Why, what?" Russel hissed.  
  
"Why should she listen to you ever again?" Lauren had more confidence this time.  
  
Dan took a step closer to the first year as he said, "Oh, shut up you little Mudblood."  
  
Lauren retreated slightly as the towering black haired Slytherin approached her. Rebecca with her eyes still locked on Russel stepped into Dan's path so he couldn't get to Lauren. They all stood there, Rebecca and Russel staring at each other and Dan and Lauren glaring at each other. Everyone who was just sitting in the room were looking at them wonder what was going to happen.  
  
Charlie came in just as Rebecca said through gritting teeth, "Give me back my ring."  
  
Russel looked at her frustrated and before he knew what he was saying he blurted out, "You can have your ring after you go out with me on a date."  
  
Charlie quickened his paces towards them and punched Russel right in the jaw. Before anyone knew what was happening, Russel was lying flat on his back and Charlie was towering over him.  
  
"What is going on here?" Charlie finally asked staring at Russel with fury in his eyes. Rebecca was about to respond when Lauren said, "He took Rebecca's ring and replaced it with this one."  
  
Lauren threw the fake at Russel hitting him right in the face and quickly hid behind Rebecca so that Dan didn't try to get her for doing that to Russel.  
  
Keeping herself between Dan and Lauren, Rebecca didn't want Lauren to be fielding questions on this situation so she explained, "He charmed the replica so that it worked with the map that you had map me at the beginning of the year to show where I was when I was wearing it."  
  
Charlie looked at Rebecca and then started towards the now standing Russel.  
  
"This is between Rebecca and me, you have nothing to do with this, Weasley," Russel defiantly stated.  
  
Charlie looked as though he could have hit Russel again, but he restrained himself and fiercely said, "She is my girl and when something with her involves you, it involves me, too."  
  
"Well, if it involves you, then may I propose a bet?"  
  
Charlie stared at Russel wondering what bet the Slytherin was going to suggest.  
  
Russel took Charlie's silence as the go ahead to explain his bet, so he explained, "The next time we meet on the quidditch field, if you get the snitch, I will give back the really ring to Rebecca without her doing anything, but if I catch the snitch then I get a full fledge date with Rebecca with kiss and everything if she wants her ring back."  
  
"Ha," Rebecca forced out, "like you would get a kiss and you can forget about me ever letting you hold my hand on a date or anything."  
  
"Yeah, well you won't be getting your ring back until the end of the date so you have to in order to get your precious ring back. Oh and I don't want your friends around for you to run off with."  
  
"Well, if that is going to be the case then I get the stipulations that you can't use magic and that you only get one physical contact, if you take a hold of my hand and then let go that is it for the night."  
  
"Fine on both, but I get to choose what the contact is."  
  
"Why are we even discussing this?" Rebecca said exasperated.  
  
"Yes, why are we discussing this, because this bet won't go that far," Charlie coolly said.  
  
"So you are going to take the bet?" Russel calmly asked.  
  
Charlie nodded yes.  
  
"Well then as long as Rebecca is in for the bet we are all set."  
  
"What does Rebecca have to be in the bet for?"  
  
"She has to agree to the date if you loose, because if she doesn't then I don't have anything concrete to win by getting the snitch first."  
  
Charlie turned to look at Rebecca to see what she would say.  
  
"Is the date going to have the rules we threw out right now?" asked Rebecca quietly.  
  
Russel nodded and simply restated the list, "You get the ring after the date, you're not allowed to ditch me, and."  
  
"No magic and you can only either hold my hand or a little kiss."  
  
"Which I get to choose."  
  
Rebecca took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. She hated the idea of this bet especially since Charlie was getting wrapped up in it. Rebecca looked at Charlie in the eyes and saw that his gaze urged her to take the bet with the message it gave of 'I have to face him anyways at the match and I am not going to lose, especially with this as a new driving force to beat him.'  
  
"Well Rebecca, what is it going to be? Is there a bet or not?" questioned Russel impatiently.  
  
Rebecca shook her head yes. Russel smiled a wicked smile and stuck his hand out for Rebecca to shake to seal her portion of the deal.  
  
After Rebecca shook Russel's hand, Russel turned towards Charlie, extended his hand and asked, "You still in?"  
  
"You're on," Charlie coldly said. "The next match where Gryffindor and Slytherin face off we'll see who wins the bet."  
  
Charlie took Russel's hand to except the bet. The two seekers stood there for a moment both glaring at each other and from what everyone in the room could tell they were both squeezing each other's hand with all of their strength. Finally they let go and Russel walked away looking quite smug about what just happened and his prospects of having a date with Rebecca.  
  
'I'll have to train really hard now so that I don't lose this opportunity,' he thought as he exited the common room to find Ryan and tell him about it.  
  
After Russel was out of the room, Rebecca leaned up against the wall. All the adrenaline that was pumping through her during the confrontation was out of her now and she felt worse than she had before she had went upstairs after her and Lauren's search for Sir Codagon. Charlie noticed that she looked like she was about to fall over.  
  
"You okay?" he asked as he wrapped his arms around her so that she wouldn't go on to the floor.  
  
Rebecca looked at him and shook her head no.  
  
Charlie looked into her eyes and said, "Are you still feeling sick?"  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca whispered. "I was going to take a nap and was about to fall asleep when Russel and Dan came into the room."  
  
"WHAT!"  
  
Charlie looked as though he could have killed Russel if he had been standing there still. Rebecca went on and explained everything that had happened up to where Charlie walked into the room.  
  
"I had all this energy when I was demanding my ring back, but now I am completely drained. Climbing in to bed and going to sleep is the most wonderful idea in the world to me right now, but I don't know how well I will rest knowing that those worthless gits have no problem walking into the dorm," Rebecca quietly said at the end of her explanation.  
  
Charlie was trying to formulate a plan so that Rebecca could get a nap as she rested her head on his shoulder.  
  
"Becca?" he finally said when he thought he might have came up with something, but Rebecca didn't answer. Charlie gently moved Rebecca's head with his hand and saw that she had fallen asleep standing there. After giving out a sympathetic sigh, Charlie picked up Rebecca and carried to her bed so that she could be more comfortable.  
  
He didn't want to leave her in there by herself so after he tucked Rebecca in he went over to the other side of her bed and laid down on top of the covers positioning himself so that he could keep and an eye on the door and Rebecca all at the same time. 


	17. The Last Straw

Charlie wasn't sure how long he had been lying in Rebecca's bed. He felt like he slipped into a daze and possible even fallen asleep thinking about everything that had happened downstairs and wondering what was making Rebecca so tired, but as soon as he heard the door up he was wide awake and staring fiercely at the door. Jacquelyn walked in and looked at him curiously.  
  
"What are you doing in here?" was the first thing out of her mouth. Charlie told her everything starting with Rebecca's story of Russel and Dan in that very room and onto what transpired down stairs to. Jacquelyn gazed at him with her jaw dropped.  
  
Finally, she regained her composure and quietly said, "I don't blame you for wanting to stay with her. Um, I think James was looking for you so I am going to go tell him that I found you, but I will be back."  
  
Jacquelyn exited the room and came back shortly afterwards with not only James but the whole group. The all wore the same expression Jacquelyn had on after Charlie told her the bet story. Greg was the first one that dared to speak.  
  
"So Flint tried to pull another stunt?"  
  
Charlie nodded as he sat up in Rebecca's bed.  
  
"Poor kid," Greg continued. "It's bad enough that she really isn't feeling the best, but to have that worthless git break that stupid promise he insisted on making." Charlie nodded his head as he looked at Rebecca to show that he completely agreed with Greg.  
  
"Um, Charlie," Cathrine quietly said causing Charlie to turn his gaze off of his girlfriend on to her. "Wood called a team meeting."  
  
Charlie let out a sigh and looked at James and Colin silently asking if they would watch over Rebecca for him.  
  
"I have to go on rounds for a bit." James said as Colin answered, "McGonagall wants to see me about my transfiguration progress."  
  
Once again Charlie sighed and then looked at Sara and Jacquelyn. Sara answered the unasked question with "We promised Lauren and Carolyn that we would help the first years with their homework. We'll be in the common room, but I think we all would feel better if Rebecca wasn't left in this room by herself."  
  
"What about Bill?" asked Jacquelyn.  
  
Charlie grimly said, "He's on rounds and for some reason it always takes him longer than James or any of the other prefects from the house."  
  
"He is the Head Boy," James quietly said.  
  
"I know." Charlie stared at Rebecca for a moment and then muttered, "Too bad we can't just move her to another room where Flint wouldn't think to look for her."  
  
"That's an idea," Greg said. Everyone looked at him wondering what he came up with so he continued, "Why don't we move her into our room? I know it is technically closer to Flint, but they wouldn't think look for her in there, so it would be safe for her to be in there while we all have to be away."  
  
"We can try it," Charlie stated.  
  
"Okay, we are going to have to make sure we have a clear path on the stairs so that no one knows she is in there. Charlie you carry Rebecca and the rest of us will be look outs. Cathrine, you better go to our door and keep an eye out for anyone coming, since people will just think that you are waiting for us to go to the meeting or meeting with Colin for a prank. Sara and Jacquelyn go up the stairs and make sure no one is coming down from that direction. Make sure that you are staggered on the stairs so that we can pass messages without shouting. Colin and James go down the stairs and do the same for that direction. I'll be outside this room to let Charlie and Rebecca out. We'll whistle when someone is coming, okay?"  
  
Everyone shook there heads and headed out the room.  
  
Within seconds everyone was in place and the all clear message came from up and down the stairs. Greg let Charlie out of the room with Rebecca in his arms and Charlie quickly took her to his room where he gently laid her into his bed. He walked back out and said something Cathrine about the quidditch team meeting and the walked down the steps together and walked out with Greg to find Aaron.  
  
Colin and James went to their respective activities after they heard Charlie talking to Cathrine and Sara and Jacquelyn came back down the steps to help the first years. After a little bit, Greg, Charlie and Cathrine came back in and stopped to see how Sara and Jacquelyn were doing with the first years.  
  
"We are doing fine. Beth just has a little more to do on her charms homework and then we are good to go," Sara answered. "How was the meeting?"  
  
"Oh it was fine," started Greg. "Wood was just trying to beat some strategy into our heads."  
  
Cathrine snickered a little and said, "He is a bit on the paranoid side if you ask me. I won't be surprised if he doesn't call a meeting or practice for tomorrow."  
  
Charlie just shook his head.  
  
"Well I guess we better start on our homework," Jacquelyn said as Beth got up and left the table.  
  
Charlie practically flew up the stairs after Jacquelyn's comment. He really wanted to check on Rebecca. Upon Walking into the room, he found that she was still sound asleep.  
  
Greg walked in behind him and said, "Looks like she hasn't woke up yet. . Um, do you think we should move her back?"  
  
"Yeah, we better," Charlie said. Greg left and got everyone set up for the move. Once again, Charlie got the all clear sign and he picked Rebecca up and walked into the girls' room.  
  
Everyone came into the room as Charlie laid Rebecca back into her bed and pulled her covers over her.  
  
"There is something really wrong with Becca," Charlie said as he tucked a loose strain of Rebecca's hair behind her ear causing Rebecca to smile for a moment in her sleep.  
  
Sara looked at Rebecca and quietly said, "I know, maybe we should take her to the hospital wing."  
  
"I think," James started, "we should wait for her to wake up, that way when she can tell Madame Pompfrey her symptoms."  
  
Everyone shook their head in agreement and the girls started to discuss who was going to stay in the room first so that they knew when Rebecca was awake and could get the guys to take her to the infirmary as the boys left the room.  
  
Everyone expected Rebecca to wake up for lunch, but she didn't stir at all even when Cathrine, who took the first shift of staying in the room with her, threw a pillow at her to wake her up. Sara and Jacquelyn came up so see what was going on. After they each took a turn trying to wake their sleeping friend, Sara went and got the guys so that they could move Rebecca back into the boys' dorm, yet again.  
  
The move went smoothly and when they came back from lunch they found that she was still asleep so they moved her back with no problems. Rebecca continued to sleep all afternoon and through dinner. Her friends moved her again when they left for dinner and then again when they got back with out any problems.  
  
No one said anything to anyone about where Rebecca was until Ryan walked up to Charlie, who had just settled himself on the couch and asked where she was at.  
  
"She's asleep," Charlie shortly answered, because he was trying to busy himself so that he wasn't worrying obsessively about Rebecca.  
  
"All day?"  
  
"Yep," Charlie said flipping through his book he had brought down stairs with him.  
  
"Is she okay?"  
  
"Probably not, but I want to take her to the infirmary when she is a wake so that she can tell Madame Pompfrey what all is wrong with her."  
  
Ryan turned around and started to walk away as he muttered, "She could be really ill and he is just sitting around reading a book."  
  
He sat down at the table with Cassie, Russel, Sam, and Hans still muttering.  
  
"What did he say?" Hans asked as he wrote down some notes.  
  
Ryan gave out a sigh and said, "Weasley said that she has been sleeping all day."  
  
"Did you tell him my vision of Rebecca being in the hospital wing?" asked Cassie.  
  
Ryan was quite exasperated with Cassie at the moment so he sarcastically said, "Actually I think Charlie had the same vision as you. . He said he was going to take her to see Madame Pompfrey when she wakes up."  
  
The sarcasm was lost on Cassie though. She smiled at Ryan while Hans and Sam gave him a questioning look and Russel glared at Charlie and said, "I don't think he should wait."  
  
"And what are you going to do about it?" asked Ryan. "After what happened this morning and that little bet you three made, I don't think Charlie will let you anywhere near Rebecca for a while."  
  
"Yeah, well that may be true, but if she doesn't make an appearance at breakfast I am going to get her myself and take her to the infirmary whether she is awake or not. Maybe then she would understand why I went in to check on her this morning."  
  
Russel got up and started towards the stairs. Sara saw Russel walking up stairs and ran up after him. She passed him and headed into the girls room acting like she needed something from in there, even though she just wanted to make sure Russel wasn't trying to come into the girls' room again and to see if Rebecca would wake up.  
  
Rebecca didn't wake up though no matter what Sara tried. In fact, she slept all night other than a couple coughing fits that didn't last long and wouldn't stir in the morning. Her friends moved her once more before they headed to breakfast.  
  
As the group walked into the Great Hall, Russel watched closely to see if Rebecca was with them. He got up quickly and walked out of the hall without anyone noticing him after he saw that Rebecca wasn't to be found. Russel marched straight up to the Gryffindor tower, bond and determined to do what he said he would the prior night, but when he reached the fifth year Gryffindor girls' dorm he found that Rebecca wasn't in there. He quickly looked in the bathroom and then decided she must be in the hospital wing. Russel dashed out of the room and through the portrait towards the infirmary.  
  
Once there, he found that Charlie hadn't taken her there yet and hurried back to the Gryffindor common room. Russel plopped down on the couch trying to figure out where Rebecca could be. He sat there pondering this as the other students came in. Charlie and his friends came in laughing and suddenly went quiet as they approached the stairs.  
  
Russel thought this was a bit odd. He kept glancing up at the stairs waiting for them to come back down. It took a while but one by one they all reappeared with Charlie being the last one. Russel secretly watched the group as they all gathered together at a table. To him, they seemed to be relieved of something.  
  
'Something happened up stairs that stressed them out, but they must have gotten through it. What would involve all of them, but not Rebecca? Oh, I bet it has to do with her though. I got to find out,' Russel thought as he got up from the couch and walked to where Ryan was sitting with Cassie who was complaining about how she missed being able to hang out with Kirsta in their own common room.  
  
He sat there the rest of the morning trying to zone Cassie out which was almost near impossible.  
  
To say that both Ryan and Russel were happy when it was time for lunch would be an understatement. Russel practically ran up the stairs to drop off his books just to get away from the dramatics of Cassie. Ryan came in as Russel plopped down on his bed.  
  
"I don't know how you do it, mate," Russel stated as Ryan set down his books and started back towards the door.  
  
Ryan looked at him curiously and asked, "Do what?"  
  
"Take all of Cassie's drama. I think I would kill myself if she was my girlfriend. She's just not Rebecca. I don't think I have heard or seen Rebecca cause any drama to get attention for herself like Cassie does."  
  
Ryan chuckled a little and said, "Well, I have no doubt that Rebecca couldn't be considered a drama queen when compared to Cassie, but I would have to say that it is hard to say for sure seeing how she hasn't made an appearance lately. Some might consider that slightly dramatic considering what happened yesterday morning."  
  
"But still, after having someone in my life like Rebecca, I would never really care for someone like Cassie."  
  
"Yeah, well let's just say that Cassie may come in useful one of these days."  
  
Russel looked at Ryan curiously and asked, "What does that mean?"  
  
"I'll tell you later," Ryan nonchalantly replied. "I am going to go talk to Charlie and see how Rebecca is doing."  
  
"Well I would go with you, except getting another black eye from that guy isn't high on my priority list."  
  
"Hey, you're the one that ruined your truce with Rebecca and Charlie was just protecting her."  
  
"Well if she would have just listened to me."  
  
"Mate, you don't try to reason with Rebecca when she's sick, trust me. You should have just walked away and try again later on."  
  
"Yeah, well I didn't and now I have to get the snitch before that loser Weasley does so that I will have a chance to tell her my side of the story."  
  
"Still don't like the guy on or off the field do you?"  
  
"Nope and I don't think it will ever change."  
  
"That's okay I don't either. I only pretend to so that I can stay on Rebecca's good side."  
  
"Well, why don't you go off and pretend and find out what is up with her?"  
  
"Okay, are you going to stay here?"  
  
"Yeah, I think so for a little bit at least until the ringing in my ears from Cassie relentless chatter stops."  
  
Ryan shook his head and walked out the door.  
  
Ryan was about to shut the door when Charlie and Greg came out from their room.  
  
"Just the guy that I wanted to see," Ryan cheerful said as he saw Charlie.  
  
"Really?" Charlie asked staring at Malfoy suspiciously. "And what did you want to see me for, Malfoy?"  
  
"Well, Weasley, I couldn't help but notice that Rebecca hasn't made an appearance at any meals or down in the common room, so I was wondering if you knew how she was doing?"  
  
"Well, unfortunately, I don't. She is still asleep. I guess she may have gotten up in the middle of the night, but before any of the girls could check on her she was back asleep."  
  
Ryan shook his head and then asked once more, "Shouldn't she go to the hospital wing?"  
  
"If she doesn't wake up after we get back from lunch, we better take her there, I guess."  
  
"Sounds like a plan. If you need any help let me know. I'll see you after lunch." With that Ryan walked down the stairs.  
  
Once he was out of ear shot Greg said, "That was a close one."  
  
Charlie looked at him and said, "Yeah, we were extremely lucky to get her moved this time. I didn't realize that he was up here. I thought he left with Cassie and those other Slytherins."  
  
"Come on let go to lunch I think Colin and Cathrine left right after we got in to our room and Jacquelyn, James, and Sara weren't too far behind them."  
  
Charlie and Greg walked down the stairs unaware that Russel was able to hear everything that they had said, because Ryan had accidentally left open when he left.  
  
'Oh, so that's why I could find her this morning. They have been moving her into the boys' room,' Russel thought as he towards the Gryffindor's dorm room.  
  
Greg and Charlie were about to the portrait when they both thought they heard something upstairs like a creak of a door.  
  
"Maybe she is awake!" Charlie said excitedly as he rushed back up the stairs with Greg close behind him wondering whether his friend was cracking up from worry (Why else would he have ran up stair after hearing a creak of a door?).  
  
When they made it to their room they glanced in to see that Charlie's bed where Rebecca was sleeping still had the curtains pulled around it, but Russel was standing next to it.  
  
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING!" Charlie shouted as he started towards the Slytherin.  
  
Before Russel had a chance to answer, Charlie threw a punch that hit Russel in the stomach which stumbling backwards. If Russel had fallen down that probably would have been the last hit, but since the Slytherin was determined to remain standing Charlie had a chance to take out all of the frustrations that he had felt towards Russel.  
  
"That's for the headaches," said Charlie as he hit Russel in the chest.  
  
Even though Russel tried to take some swings at Charlie, he was unsuccessful. Charlie dodged all of them and was able to punch Russel back for each of his attempts while saying, "That's for deceiving her at Christmas. ... That's for the Ball. ... That's for the explosion. ... That's for the letter. ... That's for tripping her on the stairs. ... That's for the promise you broke to her. . That's for the ring. ... That's for the bet. ... And that's for not leaving her alone."  
  
With the last blow, Russel finally fell to the ground.  
  
Charlie stared down at him as Greg walked over and patted his best friend on the back half to congratulate him and half to calm him down and said, "You get it all out?"  
  
"Yeah, that worthless git ..." Charlie stopped in the middle of his sentence. There was a soft muffled sound coming from his bed. As the noise got louder, Greg and Charlie realized that it was Rebecca coughing. "She has to be awake there is no way she could sleep through that."  
  
They both turned towards Charlie's bed and stared at the closed curtains for a moment.  
  
"Charlie?" Rebecca called miserably through the curtains of Charlie's bed.  
  
Greg walked over and stood over Russel giving him an 'I dare you to try and get up' look as Charlie opened the curtains to find Rebecca sitting up near the edge of the bed. She was shaking all over which made all of the boys in the room really concerned.  
  
"Becca, are you okay?" Charlie asked as he touched her face. "You're burning up."  
  
Rebecca looked at him worried as she whispered, "But I feel so cold that I am shivering."  
  
"Come on, let's go to the hospital wing and find out what is wrong with you."  
  
Rebecca shook her head as Charlie picked her up off of the bed.  
  
As Charlie walked out the door with Rebecca, Greg picked up Russel by the scruff of his neck and lead the Slytherin out of the room as he sternly said, "I suggest you watch your step from now on. We all will be keeping an eye on you, I guarantee it."  
  
Greg threw Russel into the Slytherin room and walked down to the Great Hall to let the others know what had happened.  
  
Charlie set Rebecca down on the cot in the infirmary as Madame Pompfrey came over with a 'what happened now' look on her face to check on Rebecca. In the middle of the examination Rebecca started coughing again. Madame Pompfrey looked at her and then at Charlie, "How long has she been like this?"  
  
"Um, she has had a cough since Tuesday, but it wasn't as bad as it is now," Charlie answered. "Towards the end of the week she complained about being short of breath and being really tired. In fact, she slept most of yesterday and I brought her here when she woke up this morning."  
  
Rebecca managed to stifle the coughing long enough to say, "My chest hurts and I am really cold."  
  
She tried to cover up with a blanket to stop from shivering.  
  
"Madame Pompfrey, what is wrong with her?" Charlie asked as he gazed at his sick girlfriend.  
  
"She has pneumonia. I am going to go and talk to Professor Sprout and get some sano leaves for Ms. Carter."  
  
"That will take care of it then?"  
  
"Yes after she gets enough down. That should take a couple of days and then I will want to monitor her for a couple days to make sure that the leaves took care of everything."  
  
Charlie nodded as he took in what Pompfrey was saying as she got up and left the room. Rebecca started coughing as Charlie took a seat next to her bed.  
  
"Poor kid," he said as Rebecca laid back down on the cot and he tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.  
  
Rebecca weakly smiled at him and quietly asked, "How long was I asleep?"  
  
Charlie sighed while he looked into her tired eyes and answered, "About a whole day. You feel asleep right after Russel left us in the common room yesterday morning and as far as I know you hadn't woken up for any length of time after that until when you started coughing in my bed. ."  
  
"Um, the bet wouldn't have been a dream, by any chance?" Rebecca asked looking at Charlie really hopefully.  
  
"Sorry, Becca, but it wasn't."  
  
Rebecca's face appeared distressed in a flash.  
  
"I am so sorry," she started, but Charlie cut her off as he said, "Hey, he was the one that proposed the bet. I am going to make sure that he regrets doing it, okay?"  
  
Rebecca shook her head.  
  
She really wanted to talk about it since they hadn't really said anything before, but Charlie said, "Now you don't worry about anything just concentrate on getting better."  
  
Rebecca was about to respond when she started coughing again.  
  
Madame Pompfrey came back in with bowl full of sano leave. After getting the leaves prepared to make a tea she then ushered Charlie out of the room so that she could attend to Rebecca. When Rebecca had gotten a few sips of tea down, Charlie was permitted back in.  
  
"Now she is still very ill," Madame Pompfrey explained to Charlie as Rebecca drifted back to sleep. "Unfortunately, she can only have a few sips at a time, because the tea will make her sleep and too much at one time will knock her out for a very long time, which will hinder any chances of seeing if she is getting better."  
  
Charlie shook his head and then asked, "Can I sit in here with her?"  
  
"Very well. When she wakes up give her some more tea and then tell me she has woken up. But the next time she wakes up I want to examine her to make sure the symptoms are subsiding."  
  
"Thank you, Ma'am. I'll be right back."  
  
Charlie ran up to the common room and grabbed his books so that he could get the rest of his homework done while sitting by Rebecca's cot.  
  
On his way out the door he ran into Greg, Sara, James, Jacquelyn, Colin and Cathrine. As Sara gave him some rolls she took out of the Great Hall, Charlie told them about Rebecca and that she would be out of probably the rest of the week.  
  
After he finished, Colin looked at him very seriously and said, "Well at least you don't have to worry about Russel getting her while she is sleeping. Madame Pompfrey wouldn't allow him to bug her in there."  
  
Everyone stared at him for a moment taken back by how serious the jester was, but then he added, "Too bad though I had some great pranks that could have been set up to protect her from him."  
  
This caused the group to laugh.  
  
"Never can go with out the pranks can you?" Sara asked still laughing.  
  
"Where would the fun in life be without pranks? I mean it makes even the bleak situation hilarious and as far as I am concerned there isn't enough laughing in the world."  
  
"Well I better get back to the infirmary. I want to make sure that I am there when she wakes up."  
  
"Okay, we'll talk to you later," Greg said ushering him right out the portrait.  
  
Charlie walked a few steps out the door and walked right into Ryan causing him to fall in front Dan and Hans.  
  
"Sorry, Malfoy," he said as he offered a hand to help the Slytherin up. Ryan refused to take it getting up on his own.  
  
"You did that on purpose, Weasel," he hissed.  
  
Charlie stared at him and simply said with conviction, "No, I didn't."  
  
"Okay," Ryan responded though Charlie could tell that Ryan didn't really mean it. "Where is Rebecca at?"  
  
"In the infirmary."  
  
"About time you took her there."  
  
Ryan tone was quite menacing, so Charlie defensively stated, "Well, she finally woke up and Madame Pompfrey was able to diagnose her fast with Rebecca being able to say what the symptoms were."  
  
Charlie blew past him and the rest of the Slytherins and headed towards the infirmary. Ryan glared as Charlie headed down the steps.  
  
"I am going to get him. She should have been taken there a long time ago awake or not," he muttered.  
  
Dan was standing closest to him and hissed back, "What do you have in mind?"  
  
"Don't know yet, but it is going to get him sent to the hospital wing."  
  
Ryan then rushed in to the Gryffindor common room and into his dorm to figure out what he could do to get Charlie. As soon as he walked into the room, he noticed Russel lying on his bed.  
  
"Oi, Russel. Didn't the ringing in your ears from Cassie's constant chattering stop yet?" Ryan jokingly asked as he walked over to his friend's bed.  
  
"Oh that stopped, but Weasley gave me another reason to stay up here," Russel said turning to reveal two black eyes. One Ryan knew was from the day before, but the other was new.  
  
"What happened?"  
  
Russel then explained what had happened from when Ryan left to when Greg threw him back into the room.  
  
"So, you got beat up for trying to help Rebecca when she was sick?" Ryan asked when Russel finished.  
  
"Yeah, that pretty much is the jest of it."  
  
"Oh that Weasley is going too far. I have to go talk to Rebecca about this."  
  
Ryan pretty much ran out of the room straight towards the infirmary. When he got there he found Charlie sitting next to Rebecca working on his homework. It appeared that his friend was sleeping again, so he decided to go back and come back later on.  
  
When he got back up to the Gryffindor's common room, he plopped down in a seat next to Russel and Dan who were working on the last bits of there homework.  
  
"Did you talk with her about Weasley?" Russel asked in a low voice looking up from his homework to Ryan and then around the room to see if any of the fifth year Gryffindors were watching them.  
  
"No," snarled Ryan. "She was asleep and he was sitting right there. I couldn't even get myself to go in once I saw that. I am so mad at the guy that I probably would have picked a fight, which wouldn't have been good thing."  
  
"Why?" Dan naively asked.  
  
Before Ryan could say anything, Russel said, "Because picking a fight with him will be like picking a fight with her. Trust me those two come together even when something even really involves one of them."  
  
"Yeah well I plan on getting Weasley without involving Rebecca."  
  
"What?"  
  
"I am going to get him. I don't know how, but I am going to get him without getting her. . You will probably want in when I figure out to get even for those two shiners."  
  
"Uh, thanks but no thanks. I am going to get that snitch, so Rebecca has to listen to me and I can convince her that I was only in the room to check on her. I have tried everything else and it just seems to give her fuel to ignore me and I don't need or want to give her any fuel for not listening to me."  
  
"Fine," Ryan said grimly as he got up to get his books.  
  
Back in the infirmary Rebecca woke up so suddenly that she practically jumped out of the cot. Charlie was startled by the sudden movement.  
  
"What's that matter?" he asked as he stood up to stop her from leaving the cot completely dropping his books on to the ground.  
  
Rebecca gasped trying to caught her breath. "My chest really hurts. I really can't breathe."  
  
"Here, have some more tea, okay?"  
  
Rebecca shook her head as Charlie handed her the cup. After a few sips, Charlie took the tea away from Rebecca and set it on the bedside table. He turned around to see Rebecca lay back down and close her eyes.  
  
Then, he went and told Madame Pompfrey that Rebecca had woken up. Madame Pompfrey noted the time that Rebecca woke up and that she complained of chest pains and shortness of breath and then told Charlie that it would be best if he would gather his homework up and go back to the common room.  
  
"I fear that this illness has a greater hold on her than I first suspected. She shouldn't have had chest pains anymore. Until I am sure exactly what is going on, I am going to assume she is contagious and quarantine her," the healer explained.  
  
Charlie shook his head and silently gathered up his books and headed out of the infirmary.  
  
On his back to the common room he ran into Bill and Lennon. They had been holding hands, but Bill instantly let go when he saw Charlie heading their direction which caused Lennon to laugh.  
  
"Um, hey Charlie. What are you doing?" Bill asked trying to keep Charlie from asking about why Lennon and him had been holding hands.  
  
Charlie, who hadn't noticed the two until Bill talked, glumly replied telling them both about how sick Rebecca was and that she may have been contagious so he had to leave.  
  
"Oh, that is horrible I hope she feels better soon," Lennon stated when Charlie finished.  
  
"Yeah, I am sorry to hear that," Bill added, "but I am sure Rebecca will be up and back on her feet in no time at all."  
  
"Yeah, well, better let you two get back to rounds. I'll see you up in the common room later Bill."  
  
"Okay."  
  
"Bye Charlie," Lennon said as Charlie walked away.  
  
Once he was out of ear shot, Lennon laughed, "He thought we were doing rounds together."  
  
"Poor guy's got a lot on his mind. Oh well at least I don't lose the bet."  
  
Bill gave his girlfriend a mischievous smile.  
  
"Yeah, you were extremely lucky with that one, but I don't think you'll get off that easy again."  
  
Bill stepped closer to her and said, "Well you better watch out, because here comes Jenna."  
  
Lennon automatically took a step back and looked down the hall ready to make up something so she wouldn't loose the bet. When she looked down the hall, there was no one coming towards them from any direction.  
  
"Oh, you," Lennon said as she playfully pushed Bill.  
  
"Gotcha!" Bill smiled at her and then leaned in and gave her a kiss. "You tired of hiding this?"  
  
"A little, but I don't want to loose the bet."  
  
"Same here."  
  
They both laughed a little.  
  
"Come on, we got to move another perfect has got to be coming around here sooner or later." Bill took Lennon's hand and led her away.  
  
They hadn't gotten that far when they heard footsteps Lennon dropped Bill's hand this time thinking that it might be Jenna. This time however it was Professor Snape.  
  
"What are you to doing?" He asked eyeing both of them.  
  
"I was on rounds and met Lennon in the hall. She said she needed to talk to me, so she joined me on as I finished rounds," Bill honestly said. Lennon shook her head in agreement.  
  
"Very well," Snape said. "I need to talk to both of you and let you know that the Slytherin house is fixed so they will be moving out in a few days. We are asking that the passwords to your houses not be changed until I inform you. We want to make sure that everything they moved in gets moved out. Make sure that you inform your respective houses."  
  
Bill and Lennon both shook there heads to let him know that they understood. Snape turned and left.  
  
Once he was out of sight, Bill turned toward Lennon and gave her a quick kiss and said, "Sorry to cut this short, but I have to tell Charlie. He needs something to cheer him up."  
  
"And this news will?" Lennon asked. "It isn't going to make Rebecca better."  
  
"No, but it means that Flint is moving out and he has caused Becca a lot of grief this past year and the idea that he will be moved out when Rebecca is allowed to get out of the infirmary will be really good news to him."  
  
Lennon just smiled as Bill kissed her again and dashed off. 


	18. Back to Normal

Bill was right about Charlie being happy to here that the Slytherins would be leaving for. What he didn't realize was that all of the Gryffindors were ready to get rid of their house guests.  
  
"That Burk girl never shuts up and it is always all about her," Chelsea complained. "It will be good to get rid of them."  
  
"Good. We'll have enough room again," Aisha said when she heard the news.  
  
"Now I can talk to the team in the common room without fear of someone spying on our tactics," Wood said.  
  
Comments like that happened by all the Gryffindors, except Lauren. She seemed a little down in the dumps about it.  
  
Sara and Jacquelyn noticed and went over to talk to her while Charlie went down to check on Rebecca's condition. He was happy that the Slytherins were going to be gone, but he feared that if Rebecca was contagious then they might have to endure them for a lot longer.  
  
Down in the infirmary, Madame Pompfrey informed him that Rebecca had woke up and appeared to be doing better. "I am still not positive whether she is contagious or not. I think it would be best if all the students in your house be examined to make sure no one else is sick."  
  
Charlie shook his head and was about to ask how long Madame Pompfrey thought it would take to do it, when Rebecca woke up and said in her normal voice, "Hey, there."  
  
Charlie glanced over and saw Rebecca was sitting up with a weak smile on her face. She still looked tired and sick, but Charlie could tell that she felt a lot better than she had.  
  
Madame Pompfrey quickly asked her to describe how she felt in which Rebecca replied, "Well, I still feel little tired and my chest hurt a little, but that is only when I take really deep breathes."  
  
Madame Pompfrey noted what Rebecca said and then went off to get her more tea.  
  
Charlie sat down on Rebecca's cot and as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear he said, "It is so good to see you awake with a smile on your face."  
  
"I am just glad that I feel better," Rebecca said. She was going to say more, but Sara and Jacquelyn came running into the infirmary looking very upset.  
  
"Oh good, your up," Sara blurted out.  
  
"Why what is the matter?" Rebecca asked as she looked from one girl to the other.  
  
Jacquelyn explained that the Slytherins were moving out soon, but Lauren was really upset about it. "When we asked her about it, she told us that she was really starting to like Harvey and she like having him in the house with us. Something about getting to know him better and that he wasn't that bad."  
  
"Wasn't he the one that called her that foul name a couple of time?" Sara asked.  
  
"Yes!" Rebecca's serious tone startled all of them. "I need to talk to her, right now."  
  
"I-I'll get her," volunteered Jacquelyn as she started towards the door. Charlie and Sara stared at Rebecca wondering what she was going to say to Lauren.  
  
Jacquelyn appeared a few minutes later with Lauren. After then niceties were exchanged between the two girls, Rebecca told Lauren about all she had heard about Harvey on Saturday when she had followed Russel and Dan down the stairs.  
  
"So he scared Sean away? That is why he broke up with me," Lauren said with a shaky voice when Rebecca finished.  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca softly said. "I am so sorry he did that to you."  
  
"Me too. . I am so glad that they are leaving soon."  
  
"I think we all will be," Charlie grimly said.  
  
Madame Pompfrey came back with Rebecca's tea before anyone else could say anything.  
  
She handed Rebecca the teacup and said, "Now, dear, you may not fall asleep as fast as you did before, which is a good sign. It means that you are getting better."  
  
As Rebecca took a couple of quick sips from the cup, Madame Pompfrey insisted on doing a couple of test on the other students to see whether they were suffering from illness.  
  
After they all got the all clear, Charlie said, "Come on it is about supper time let's go down to the Great Hall."  
  
They told Rebecca goodbye and left the room.  
  
The next week seemed to blur together for Rebecca with only a few significant things happening. One was that when Cathrine came down with Colin to get checked out by Madame Pompfrey, Cathrine presented her with a get well card covered in smile faces, of course.  
  
Inside that card was a copy of the picture she had taken of the Slytherins when they had different colored skin. Rebecca laughed so hard when she looked and saw Cassie in the middle of the photo changing her disgusted pose while Ryan and Russel stared broodingly at her. Hans, Sam, and Dan had their hands over their faces and it appeared that Akira and Toby may have been in the photo, but they were hiding out of view.  
  
"I sent Stacy a copy along with a note saying that you were sick, so that she didn't worry that you didn't respond to her owl right away," Cathrine said as Rebecca tried to compose herself.  
  
"Thank you," Rebecca tried to stifle her laughing.  
  
"Who thought of that?" Colin asked really wanting to know more about the prank.  
  
"You can find out after the Slytherins leave the house," Rebecca told him.  
  
"Okay, I guess," Colin said in a playful, but pouting voice. "Well we better get going and get some of our homework done. Bye, Becca!"  
  
"Yeah, Bye, Becca."  
  
"Bye, guys! Thanks Cathrine." Rebecca held up the picture and started laughing as they left the room.  
  
After settling down, Rebecca set the picture and card on her night stand with the other get well cards she had received and started to work on some of her homework which Charlie brought her.  
  
Charlie came in fairly often and told her of the things that were going on outside of the hospital wing. On Thursday, when he arrived, he informed her that the Slytherins were moving out that day, so by Saturday they should be completely gone.  
  
That same day, Ryan finally came in to see her alone.  
  
"Hey, sorry it took me so long to get down here, but Cassie was being super clingy but now she is catching up with Kirsta in our common room," he said as he walked to her bedside.  
  
Rebecca stared at him for a moment. What he had just said didn't sit well with her, which caused her to say, "No offense, Ryan, but what are you doing with her?"  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"I mean there is no way that I would have ever thought that anyone would keep you from making sure that I was doing okay. I mean that summer before we started at our different school even after your mother put the bars on your windows you still managed to sneak over and see if I was better yet."  
  
Ryan smiled remember that summer when he and Rebecca passed the influenza back and forth to each other because they couldn't bare not to see yet other everyday. After all they wouldn't get a chance when he went off to Hogwarts and she went off to Beauxbatons. His mother couldn't figure out why the two kept getting sick until she found out that they both would sneak into each other windows at night. She put magical bars on Ryan's window, but it did nothing but make him research how to get rid of them temporarily so he could see Rebecca. He could remember how livid his mother was when she found out that he was sick again.  
  
Ryan continued to remember that summer as he asked, "Oh, so you think that Cassie controls what I do then?"  
  
"Well . sort of. I guess that is part of it, but there is more. I mean, why do you put up with her? She is so dramatic that no one can help up to notice her. You always had a presence to you that let everyone know that you were there, but also you could be inconspicuous when it served it purpose for you to get something done. Dramatics, like Cassie's, just never fit in with your way. Being with Cassie just seems to tie you down to me. "  
  
Ryan looked at her for a moment and said, "What is up with you people getting on my choice of people?"  
  
"What do you mean 'you people'?"  
  
"First Russel starts in on me with Cassie and now you. All I am going to say is that you shouldn't be judging me for the girl I choose when the guy you choose isn't any better."  
  
"AND WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?" Rebecca sternly asked.  
  
Ryan went in and explained about how Charlie wouldn't take her to the infirmary and that he acted like he was the only one that could take care of her. "Russel was just going to help you and Weasley beat him up. I don't care what you think but I am sorry that I have to move out today, because someone needs to watch out for you with Weasley."  
  
"I think you need to go back to your common room and cool down a little." Rebecca said this in such a way that Ryan knew that he better just leave unless he wanted to sever all of his ties to her.  
  
Ryan walked out of the room with out saying another word.  
  
Once out in the hall, he muttered, "I am going to get that guy," and with that he walked to the library. 


	19. The Accident

Rebecca was release by Madame Pompfrey on Saturday right before the Ravenclaw vs. Gryffindor match. She walked out of the hospital wing knowing that Charlie, Greg and Catherine were already down in the locker room listen to Aaron give his pep talk and trying to beat a few more pointers in their heads.  
  
Rebecca had it figure that she would have to walk to the stands by herself, but as soon as the door closed behind her Bill appeared in front of her and said, "Hey Rebecca, can I walk you to the match?"  
  
"Um, yeah," Rebecca said quite relieved to see him. She now didn't have to worry about how she was going to dodge Ryan and his friends. With that off of her mind she remembered what she had wanted to know from Bill the morning she made the 'truce' with Russel, so she quickly added, "But first you have to tell me about that bet you and Lennon have going."  
  
"Oh, you don't want to hear about that," Bill slyly said.  
  
"Yeah, I do. I was going ask you about it when I first found out but you changed the subject," Rebecca responded. "Don't go trying to do that again."  
  
Bill gave out an exasperated sigh and then whispered, "Okay, fine. Lennon and I bet that the other couldn't keep us dating a secret until this match."  
  
"Yeah, I got that already." Rebecca whispered back. "You had to keep it from Charlie and Lennon from someone else. I want to know why the bet and what is at stake for both of you."  
  
"Well, the bet came from us talking about how it is always that the people closest to you know when something is different about you and how it would be cool to rebel a little against that. You know getting to sneak around to see each other and trying to make plausible excuse to be around the other. It was great fun, but I have to admit that I will be glad when it is over so that everyone knows. And as for what the stakes were there were actually two things. One was that the one that let the cat out of the bag had to root for other's team at the match."  
  
"And the other?"  
  
"The loser has to sing a love song in front of the whole school."  
  
"Oh! . Wait a minute, since the match is today and it seems that neither person knows, does that mean that the bet is over?"  
  
"Um, sort of the cheering for the other team is over with as soon as the match starts, but the singing part isn't quite that soon. There is sort of another part to it."  
  
"And that is?" Rebecca was starting to get really excited.  
  
"Well, if neither of us told our person, then we decide that it would come down to who's team won the match on who would sing and then we would be done with the bet and no longer hiding our relationship to those closest to us."  
  
"Well this is going to be an interesting match isn't it."  
  
Bill was about to say something when James walked up and stated, "Rebecca it is great to see you up and about."  
  
"Thanks!" Rebecca responded with a sweet little smile.  
  
"Are you too going to the stadium now?"  
  
"Yep," Bill answered as he turned to start walking in that direction.  
  
"Great, I'll go with you. Sara and Jacquelyn said that they would be coming in a bit so we needed to save them seats. ... So, what were you two talking about?"  
  
"The match," Bill said as he, James and Rebecca walked towards the stands. "It should be a really interesting game with Cathrine going up against her little sister, Kris."  
  
"Okay, I am lost," Rebecca admitted thinking that there had been a change on the Ravenclaw team while she was in the hospital wing.  
  
"What didn't you know that Kris Tyson was on the Ravenclaw team as a chaser?" asked James.  
  
Rebecca thought for a moment and then said, "Oh, no I just got myself confused. I must have been in the infirmary too long. I was thinking all the girls on the team were blondes."  
  
"Nope," interrupted James, "Kris is the brunette chaser and Miranda is the other female chaser. I think you call her hair color 'dirty' blonde, because it isn't exactly blonde but it isn't exactly brown either."  
  
"Yeah, it all depends who she is standing next to. Up against their seeker, Audrey's blonde hair she looks like she has brown hair, but against Kris's hair she is a blonde," observed Bill.  
  
Rebecca started to smile and playfully said, "And up against the dark brown hair of Lennon Mc."  
  
Bill put his hand over Rebecca's mouth before she could get another word at.  
  
James looked at both them strangely, but before he could ask what was going on Bill changed the subject. "You know the captain for Ravenclaw, Kurt James."  
  
"Yeah, the chaser with the sandy brown hair," Rebecca sarcastically said moving Bill's hand from over her mouth so she could talk. After she was done talking she moved it back and tried to stifle her laughter.  
  
"Funny, Becca," Bill said rolling his eyes as James started to laugh.  
  
Rebecca took a sit between Bill and James and hoped that the Slytherin team wouldn't sit behind them this time. She really didn't want to talk to Ryan right at the moment and felt that even if the next time she saw Russel was in a hundred years it would be too soon.  
  
Unfortunately, a few minutes later Ryan lead his team to the seats behind them. The three looked at each other and Rebecca let out a sigh. Bill started to chat with Rebecca and James hoping that they could ignore the group until after the game. Both Rebecca and James knew exactly what Bill was doing and so they either made him elaborate on topics or they did.  
  
It was almost the start of the match when Rebecca heard Russel whisper, "Well, I better watch him like a hawk and learn all of his moves so that I win when we face off. Though I have to say he did say when Gryffindor and Slytherin have their match, so if he falls off his broom and can't compete at our match its no skin off my nose I can beat any seeker they get to replace him."  
  
Rebecca flinched causing Bill and James to look at her funny.  
  
"What's the matter?" Bill asked.  
  
Though Rebecca wanted to tell him that she just was stopping herself from turning around and giving Russel a fresh black eye, she didn't. Instead she spotted Sara and Jacquelyn heading up to them and she said, "Sara and Jacquelyn are coming."  
  
The boys turned and waved to the other girls. The two girls headed up to their friends.  
  
"Hey Rebecca, glad to see that you are up and out of the infirmary. . Um, where are our seats?" Sara asked as they approached.  
  
Rebecca, Bill, and James looked around and there were no seats around them any more.  
  
"Oops," Jams said. "I guess you could seat on our laps."  
  
Bill and James started to laugh slightly as Sara rolled her eyes and Jacquelyn said, "Yeah, I'll sit on yours and Sara on Bill's and then when something exciting we'll land on the floor, because you guys will forget that we are there and stand up to cheer or yell."  
  
Rebecca busted up laughing as Bill and James looked at each other and shrugged their shoulders in a 'we offered and they didn't take it up' manner. Really, they couldn't protest it because they knew that that is what would end up happening.  
  
Still laughing, Rebecca scanned the stands to see if there were any available seats. After a moment she said, "Hey, why don't we move down there." Everyone looked at where she was pointing as she continued to say, "It looks like there is plenty of room for all of us."  
  
"Good eye, Becca! You might have to go against Charlie for Gryffindor's seeker position. I think he might be the only other person to have caught that spot," Bill laughed as they all got up and walked down to the empty seats.  
  
Rebecca turned around and was about to say something smart-alecky, but caught a glance of Russel glaring at in her direction. Not at one of the boys but at her.  
  
She quickly looked at Bill and just rolled her eyes. Bill laughed and they continued down the steps with the rest of the group.  
  
After they got settled into their new seats, Colin's voice came over the PA system to start the game. All the Gryffindor's stood up and cheer as their team took off for a warm up flight around the field. Charlie paused for a moment as he passed where Rebecca was sitting and gave her a wink to tell her he was glad she was out of the hospital wing to watch the match. Rebecca smiled and winked back to tell him good luck. He then left to join his teammates on the ground.  
  
Madame Hooch went over the rules and then made the captains shake hands. After she released the snitch and the bludgers, Madame Hooch tossed up the quaffle. Anna was able to grab it first and she, Greg, and Cathrine went streaking down the field with Ravenclaw's chasers, Kurt James, Kris Tyson, and Miranda Clearwater pursued them. On approaching the Ravenclaw goals, Anna passed the quaffle back to Cathrine who in turn passed it to Greg who was free of the defenders and able to score.  
  
"Greg Bell scores. Ten to zero Gryffindor," Colin announced as his fellow housemates erupted in cheers. Miranda got the quaffle and headed to the other side of the field with her fellow Ravenclaw chasers.  
  
They almost scored, but Wood had a brilliant save and was able to send the quaffle towards Greg who caught it and threw it down the field at Cathrine. She was able to dodge a bludger, fake out her own sister, Kris, and beat Alise Belvidere, the Ravenclaw keeper for another ten points.  
  
"Spectacular move by Gryffindor's Tyson. Twenty to zero, Gryffindor!!!!" announced Colin and then he added, "That's my girl!"  
  
Rebecca, Sara, and Jacquelyn looked at each other and rolled their eyes.  
  
"Sounds like someone wanted to claim his turf in case anybody was thinking about trying to steal Cathrine away," Rebecca laughed.  
  
Jacquelyn looked that them and said, "Well, I hear that Kurt James is sort of sweet on her."  
  
"Isn't he dating Jenna?" Sara asked.  
  
Jacquelyn shook her head yes as Rebecca asked, "Jenna?"  
  
"Yeah, you know her. Jenna Moliby? She is one of the Prefects for Ravenclaw. We have History of Magic with her," explained Jacquelyn.  
  
"You know I walk in that class sit down and pretty much fall asleep; it's so soporific. You could say that Dumbledore is taking the class with us and I wouldn't know the difference," Rebecca stated.  
  
The other girls laughed at Rebecca's statement.  
  
Jacquelyn scanned the crowd and through her laughter said, "Well she is right there sitting next to Lennon McCartney. Take a good look, maybe she will at least look familiar to you."  
  
Rebecca looked at who Jacquelyn was pointing to. The girl had really light brown hair that many would call a dirty blonde color and was about 5'2" from Rebecca's best guess.  
  
"Oh I recognize her. She is in our class. I also think I saw Charlie dancing with her at the Ball, before..."  
  
Rebecca stopped, partly because she didn't want to relive what happened after she saw Jenna and Charlie and partly because Colin announced, "Nice effort by Wood. He had his hands full there with a bludger coming at him right before Ravenclaw's Captain, James, shot the quaffle. Goal for Ravenclaw. The score is now Twenty to ten, Gryffindor as Bell takes control of the quaffle. He streaks down the field. Dark sends a bludger towards Ravenclaw's Tyson to stop her from intercepting Bell. Bell swerves around the Keeper Belvidere shoots and scores. Thirty to ten, Gryffindor."  
  
The match continued much the same way. Gryffindor never lost their lead, but everyone on and off the field knew that only the seekers would be the ones to decide who won the game. The fans sat on the edge of their seats waiting to see which seeker would see the snitch first, that is until something strange happened.  
  
Cathrine was flying straight towards Charlie in hopes that he would block Kris who was following her. A.J had just hit a bludger towards James, who was also in pursuit of Cathrine. The bludger however looped around and headed straight towards Cathrine. Dark saw it but couldn't get there in time to stop it so it hit Cathrine right in the back. She dropped the quaffle, which Greg managed to catch before Miranda could grab it, and then fell, off her broom. She was about fifty feet from the ground and luckily, A.J. was able to grab hold of her quidditch robe before she fell too far.  
  
As A.J. swung the unconscious Cathrine up onto his broom so that he could safely get her to the ground to be looked at, Heath smacked the bludger that hit Cathrine keeping it from heading towards Charlie. The Bludger once again stopped in mid air and head back towards Charlie, who had just seen the snitch. The Bludger followed Charlie as he swerved around the field in pursuit of the snitch. A.J. came up and knocked the Bludger off of its path after he put Cathrine down. His efforts did no good, the bludger went right back on Charlie's tail before anyone could blink. Shea came up and gave the rogue bludger his best shot to keep it away from Charlie and the other players that might get in its way as Cathrine had been, but one again the bludger was not to be deterred.  
  
"That Bludger is bewitched," shouted Colin over the crowds' murmurs about what is going on.  
  
All of the sudden Rebecca had a strong urge to look back at the Slytherins. She turned to see them all with smiles on their face and Ryan and Dan seemed to muttering something. She watched them for a second more and noticed that they seemed to be saying the same thing and that they weren't blinking.  
  
"ERRRRRRR!!" was all Rebecca said.  
  
Bill looked over and saw that she was mad about something so he asked, "What's the matter?"  
  
"I'll be right back," Rebecca responded moving out to the aisle.  
  
She wasn't sure what she was going to do, but she had to do something before the bludger got Charlie.  
  
Rebecca reached the row where Dan and Ryan were standing, stepped up on the row in front of them, and walked so that she was standing there.  
  
The two guys paid no attention to her. Hans, Russel, and Sam noticed her but were in the row above Ryan and Dan and so couldn't stop her when they saw her ball up her fist. Rebecca hit Ryan first sending him backwards into Hans and Sam.  
  
As they all scrambled trying to get up, Rebecca turned to find Russel had moved down a row and was looking right at her. Before she knew what she was doing she pushed Russel over onto Dan and then turned to head back to her seat. Russel grabbed the sleeve of her robe causing the seam in the shoulder to rip.  
  
"What did you do that for?" He roared at her.  
  
Struggling to get her robes free from his grip, Rebecca shouted back, "Your friends were bewitching that Bludger."  
  
Ryan made it to his feet and was about to grab Rebecca around her middle to stop her when Rebecca pulled, but her wand and pointed it at him.  
  
"Don't you dare," she said.  
  
Ryan took a step back and Russel let go of her robe not sure what she was going to do.  
  
"You wouldn't," Ryan said.  
  
"Wouldn't I? You could have killed Cathrine out there. If you ever even think about trying something like that again you better hope I don't have a wand."  
  
Rebecca backed out of the row and headed down to her friends with all of the Slytherins staring at her.  
  
"She wasn't going to perform an Unforgivable curse, was she?" Sam asked as the guys in a timid voice.  
  
"No she wouldn't have gone that far. I am sure she knows them and how to defend against them, but she wouldn't ever use them. She was probably going to use a charm on us," Ryan responded but there was an unmistakable tone in his voice that let everyone know that he was uncertain about the truth of his statement for Rebecca was rather mad at him.  
  
Rebecca made it back down to her friends.  
  
"What happened?" she asked before anyone could question her on where she went.  
  
Bill quickly explained, "A.J. and Heath managed to keep Charlie safe, but Charlie lost sight of the snitch. Luckily, Valvadian didn't get it and the bludger seemed to stop whatever what up with it."  
  
"Good. Where is Cathrine at?" Rebecca responded looking for her friend on the field.  
  
"She still is lying on the field. It looks like the she is out for the count. Luckily, Greg and Anna have been able to keep a hold the quaffle when they had it, but you can tell that they miss having Cathrine up there with them," said Bill as he looked at her and noticed the rip in her robe. "What happened to you?" he asked touching her sleeve.  
  
Rebecca looked at him and then at her sleeve.  
  
"Oh, I had to take care of a problem."  
  
"Did it have to do with the bludger situation?"  
  
Rebecca nodded.  
  
"Did it have to do with some students who don't care for my brother?"  
  
Rebecca nodded again.  
  
"Rebecca, why did you go up there by yourself? You could have gotten hurt."  
  
"I know but I saw red and it would have taken me longer to explain what I figured out and Charlie could have gotten hit."  
  
Bill was about to say something else, when he noticed Charlie streaking across the field with the Audrey in close pursuit.  
  
Everyone in the stands feel silent watching the two seekers chase the snitch around the field. Charlie went into a dive and stretched out his hand. There was a second where everyone held their breath, and then Charlie pulled out of the dive and landed.  
  
There were cheers as he showed everyone that he had the snitch, put it back into the box where it was kept between matches, and then walked over to check on Cathrine.  
  
The rest of the team landed next to Cathrine as Bill, James, Jacquelyn, Sara, and Rebecca made there way on to the field to see whether their unconscious friend was going to be okay. The whole Ravenclaw team walked over with Jenna and Lennon looking very concerned for Cathrine's welfare.  
  
"Is she okay?" Colin asked in a shaky voice as he walked through the group and approached Cathrine.  
  
Everyone looked at each other not sure what to say. Kris looked as though she was about to start to cry as she uttered, "Why won't she wake up?"  
  
Jenna left Kurt's side and gave Kris a hug as McGonagall came rushing towards them.  
  
"Ravenclaws please return to the castle. I will send word about Miss Tyson's condition after Madame Pompfrey examines her," McGonagall stated as she took out her wand to levitate Cathrine into the castle.  
  
"But she's my sister," Kris protested and immediately started to cry on Jenna's shoulder and finally ended up on the ground with both Jenna and Lennon trying to comfort her.  
  
"I think it would be best to get her back to her room rather than wait around for the diagnosis," McGonagall stated to all of the Ravenclaws.  
  
They all seemed unable to move. Finally, Bill walked over and picked up Kris as he said, "I'll carry her up and then go see how Cathrine is doing and be back up to let her know."  
  
As the students from Ravenclaw reluctantly left with Bill carrying the still crying Kris all the way, McGonagall turned towards her students and was about to give the same order, but the looks on their faces made her change her mind. "I suppose that you all want to wait around the hospital wing for diagnosis."  
  
Everyone silently shook their heads to let her know that she was correct.  
  
"Very well," McGonagall said and then started towards the castle.  
  
Cathrine was taken straight to the hospital wing by Professor McGonagall. Everyone else followed, but they were not permitted in until Madame Pomfrey finished examining their friend. As they waited outside the hall, Colin paced up in down. There was nothing anyone could do to stop him.  
  
"What was up with that Bludger?" A.J. asked Heath to break the silence.  
  
Heath shrugged and said, "I don't know. It was acting normal one minute and the next it was after Weasley. Then it all of the sudden went back to normal. Strangest thing I ever saw."  
  
"That's because it was bewitched," Rebecca interjected.  
  
Colin stopped his pacing and looked into Rebecca's sober face and asked, "What do you mean?"  
  
"Ryan and Dan were casting a spell when the bludger was acting strange. I looked up in the crowd after you said something about it being bewitched. I saw them muttering and not blinking..."  
  
"Becca, why is your robe ripped?" Charlie interrupted. He had a bed feeling that it had to do with the next part of her story.  
  
Rebecca timidly turned towards Charlie, looked him in the eyes, and said, "Because when I realized what was going on, I ran up to where they were and stopped them."  
  
"How did you stop them?" Greg urgently asked.  
  
Rebecca looked around the group and started to explain the confrontation. After she finished, the whole group stared at her in awe of what she did.  
  
"You didn't get hurt did you?" asked Charlie as he looked at her from head to tow concerned that she might be hiding something.  
  
"No, Russel just grabbed my sleeve. Ryan might have got me but I didn't give him a chance," responded Rebecca.  
  
As she took Charlie's hand to let him know that she really was okay, Colin resumed his pacing but started to mutter, "I am going to get them for this. If they ever try to do that again, I'll ... I'll ... I'll..." Colin stopped his pacing turned towards Rebecca and asked, "Becca, what were you going to do to them when you threaten them?"  
  
"You weren't going to do an Unforgivable Curse, were you?" Anna asked.  
  
Rebecca thought for a moment and said, "No, I don't think I would have gone that far. ... A.J. was able to save Cathrine from hitting the ground and it appeared that she would live when you set her down, so I don't think that I would have been that blinded to use one. They probably would have gotten a Memory charm performed on them. Of course with me performing it in the state I was in, the results might have been just as bad as one of those curses."  
  
The group laughed a little which was Rebecca's intent, but she still couldn't help but think to herself, 'What would I have really done?'  
  
She leaned over and put her head on Charlie's shoulder and pondered the thought.  
  
A moment later Professor McGonagall walked out the door and looked at all of them. They all held their breath waiting for her to say something.  
  
"She will be fine. She is still unconscious, but there were no major injuries that can't be mended," the professor stated.  
  
"Can we go see her?" Sara asked.  
  
Colin turned towards McGonagall and waited anxiously for her response.  
  
"Well, she won't know that you were here," McGonagall start with every intention to refuse to grant the request, but when she looked at Colin's face, she changed her mind and said, "but there is no harm in you going in to check on her. Just leave when Madame Pompfrey tells you too and you can go in and see her."  
  
Colin looked as though he could have kissed the teacher, but he restrained himself, said, "Thank you so much, Professor," and practically ran into the room to see his girl.  
  
The rest of the group filed in telling McGonagall thanks as well. Colin sat down on the Cathrine's bed and the rest of the group stood around it. They all just looked at their friend not knowing what to say. Wood walked away for a bit, but came back a short time later.  
  
"I just talked to Madame Pompfrey," he started. "She doesn't think that Cathrine will be able to play in the last match even if she wakes up right now."  
  
"Why is that?" James asked.  
  
"She wouldn't tell me. All she said was that I should go find another Chaser to replace her."  
  
"How are you going to replace her?" Sara pondered out loud.  
  
"Yeah, do you know how much guts it would take for some one to try to step into her shoes on the team?" Rebecca stated looking at Cathrine.  
  
Everyone else turned their gaze off of Cathrine and on to Rebecca. Rebecca noticed everyone staring at her.  
  
"What?" she asked.  
  
"You could do it," Jacquelyn stated.  
  
"What?!" Rebecca once again asked.  
  
"Oh come, Becca, you just finished telling us out there how you beat up Ryan and Russel with all of their friends around when you could have easily gotten Bill to go up there and stop them," James pointed out.  
  
"I wouldn't call that a brave thing to do. Besides, I have never played. Wood, you don't want to train me for one match," Rebecca protested.  
  
Anna stepped in and said, "Maybe only one game this year, but next year I am gone and the new captain is going to have to find a replacement. If you are any good, that person won't have to look for one."  
  
Wood nodded his head and then looked at Charlie and asked, "What do you think?"  
  
Charlie looked at Rebecca for a moment.  
  
"I think if she wants to do it, she'll be great at it," he finally said. Before Rebecca could protest, Charlie added, "I say we make her practice with us and if she or you don't think she is a good fit, we'll look for someone else."  
  
"Sounds like a good idea," Wood commented.  
  
"What do you think about it, Becca?" Charlie asked.  
  
Rebecca thought for a moment and then answered, "Um... yeah let's try a couple of practices."  
  
Greg patted her on the back as Charlie gave her a hug. A.J., Anna, and Heath smiled at her. Wood was about to say something when Madame Pompfrey came in and told them it was time for them to leave. They all said good bye to Cathrine and walked towards the door.  
  
Colin was the last one to leave. He really didn't want to go, but he knew he had to.  
  
As Colin stepped out into the hallway, the other guys walked up beside him. Anna, Sara, Jacquelyn and Rebecca had already left.  
  
"Don't go doing anything stupid," James said as they started to walk.  
  
"How did you know?" Colin grimly asked.  
  
"I'm your best guy friend, mate; I can guess what you are thinking. ... And if it were my girl that got hurt, I would want to get the people responsible for it." James muttered the last statement, but all the guys knew what he said, because they felt the same way.  
  
"Yeah, besides, my girl took care of it. Those two aren't stupid enough to say that she beat them up or threatened them, because they would have to explain why she had did it. That would cause everything to come out. If you do something with your record, they would just have to say you did and not give the reason why you got them," Charlie said.  
  
Colin nodded his head and then said, "Well, they better not make any snide remarks about what happened..."  
  
"I think we'll all get them if they do," Aaron stated as he lead them up to their common room.  
  
All of the guys nodded their heads in agreement. 


	20. The Scrimmage

The next week was intense for different reason. Gryffindor and Slytherin were constantly at each other throats. It seemed each was looking for any reason to fight. The Gryffindors managed to restrain themselves, but barely. There was one incident that couldn't be avoided. Ryan, who had a black eye from Rebecca's 'attack,' made it a point to stop Rebecca in the halls the next day.  
  
"You broke our truce," he stated as Hans, Dan, and Sam surrounded her. Rebecca stopped and looked around to see she didn't have any means of escape.  
  
After a moment, she said in a quiet confidence, "You were cursing a bludger that hit one of my friends and was after my boyfriend. I had to do something. If it had been you that the bludger was after and I figured out who did it I would have stopped them too. No matter who it was."  
  
"Even if it was Weasley?"  
  
"Charlie would never do something like that, but let's say he would for the fun of it. I would have given him a black eye for it, too." Rebecca finished and tried to walk away, but Ryan remained in her way.  
  
"Malfoy, please, move," Rebecca demanded.  
  
"Tell me who is going to be the new chaser for Gryffindor and I will."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"Well since Tyson is still 'asleep,' it is highly unlikely that she will be able to play in the Slytherin-Gryffindor match, Wood will need another chaser. The Slytherin chasers just want to know who is going to take her place."  
  
Rebecca rolled her eyes and defiantly stated, "Well just have to see if Cathrine doesn't play, won't we?"  
  
Ryan stepped aside and let Rebecca pass. After she was out of sight he started to laugh.  
  
"Those foolish Gryffindors. They are waiting for Cathrine to wake up. It will probably take them until a week before the match to realize that they need to find a replacement. By then it will be too late to train anyone decently. I think we have this match in the bag, guys!" Ryan said to Hans, Dan, and Sam who started to laugh too.  
  
What Ryan didn't know was that after Rebecca was heading towards the locker room to get ready for her first practice.  
  
There was a new energy among the Gryffindor team. Part was because they all did not want to lose to Slytherin especially after one of their members was responsible for Cathrine's condition. But there was also the fact Rebecca had started practicing with the team that gave them new energy.  
  
At first everyone was apprehensive about what was the best way to get Rebecca up to speed with the rest of the team, but it turned out that she had a natural talent for the sport. Wood was ecstatic about how quickly Rebecca got in sync with Anna and Greg.  
  
Aaron decided it would be best if they kept Rebecca joining the team a secret from everyone including their own housemates that didn't know already. This caused Rebecca to head someplace, like the library or the hospital wing, first and then double back to the locker room before practice so anyone that saw her didn't know where she was headed.  
  
Though she was having fun and was challenged in learning to perform the moves she had read about, Rebecca couldn't help but wish that Cathrine would wake up and take her spot back on the team. She just felt strange being on the team because her friend was lying in the hospital wing.  
  
Cathrine hadn't woken up yet, which lead Colin who was normally a jovial person to be brooding and stand-offish. In an effort to keep him from getting himself in trouble, the girls started walking with him to classes. Colin got annoyed after a while and blew up at them all.  
  
No one could say that they blamed him. They were all worried about Cathrine too, but Colin was the one that was suffering the most from her absence. She was his partner in crime, the half that made him whole. He didn't know what to do with himself with her lying unconscious in the hospital wing.  
  
Colin started to disappear during his free period and after dinner. He always showed back up, so the group assumed that he had been sitting with Cathrine. Rebecca got confirmation of this when she walked into the hospital wing after a practice and found him sitting there.  
  
"Hey," she softly said as she approached him.  
  
Colin looked up, slightly smiled, and turned back looking at Cathrine. Rebecca sat down and was trying to think of something to say to help Colin feel a little better, but couldn't think of anything.  
  
They sat there for a moment and then Colin mournfully said, "I just want her to open her eyes and tell me that she has a new prank for us to try out."  
  
"I know."  
  
"I miss her so much. . Kurt came in with Kris a little bit before you came in. The poor kid is taking it really hard. I wish she was in Gryffindor; then at least I could check to see how she is doing more often. ." Colin went on mostly rambling about anything that came to his mind. He told Rebecca of all of Cathrine's visitors including Bill and Lennon who were holding hands the whole time they were in the infirmary, Jenna who brought Cathrine flowers that she had transfigured to have smiley faces in their centers and sat with him for a while, and of course all the members of the Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw quidditch teams.  
  
Finally, Colin looked up at Rebecca and whispered, "Thank you for listening. I know I must sound very whinny, but Cathrine and I have been two peas in a pod for so long that, that..."  
  
"I know," Rebecca interjected so that Colin didn't have to struggle to find his words.  
  
"So what brings you here? You didn't get hurt at practice, did you?"  
  
"No, I was hoping that I could talk to Cathrine about what the heck I was supposed to be doing." "From what I hear you fit in quite well."  
  
"I guess I just wish I could get some advice from Cathrine," Rebecca said and then she softly added, "and to know whether she is okay with me subbing for her." Colin looked over at Cathrine and then back at Rebecca.  
  
"I think," he started, "that Cathrine would be ecstatic that you were the one to take her place, temporarily, of course. She would know that you were getting trained to replace Anna next year not her." Rebecca was about to protest when Colin said, "I think she would only get upset if you and I joined forces and pulled a prank without her."  
  
Rebecca laughed as Colin softly chuckled and slightly smiled. It was the first smile that Rebecca had seen on Colin's face since the accident.  
  
"Colin, how about we go up to the common room? We need to be studying for O.W.L.s"  
  
Colin didn't say anything just shook his head and got up. He bent over and gave Cathrine a kiss and whispered, "I'll be back tomorrow," and followed Rebecca out into the hall.  
  
Out in the hall, Colin looked back at the door. It looked as though he was ready to run back in to the infirmary. Rebecca gentle took his arm and started to walk back to the tower. Colin reluctantly moved away from the door. Once they were out of the Hospital wings corridor, Colin was moving more on his own so Rebecca let go of his arm.  
  
"So how is actually everything going with you-know?" Colin asked trying to leave the word quiditch out of the conversation now. Rebecca being on the house team was still a secret to almost everyone in the school and Wood wanted to keep it that way so that the Slytherins were surprised at the last match.  
  
Rebecca looked at him and said, "It going good. I have to admit I wish I wasn't doing it for the reason I am doing it, but I can't change the past."  
  
Colin was about to say something, but they had come around a corner and found, Ryan, Russel, Dan, Sam, and Hans standing there.  
  
"What are you doing that you don't want to do but have to because of something in the past?" asked Ryan eyeing Rebecca suspiciously.  
  
Rebecca hadn't said two words together to Ryan or Russel since the Gryffindor/Ravenclaw match. She was about ignored what Ryan said and walk past them with Colin when the Dan, Sam, and Hans formed a 'wall' behind Ryan and Russel making it so they couldn't past.  
  
Rebecca rolled her eyes and turned to say, "Well if you must know..."  
  
Colin quickly hissed, "No Becca don't!"  
  
"They'll know eventually anyways," Rebecca whispered back.  
  
"Know what?" Ryan asked locking his eyes on Rebecca.  
  
"That I will be leaving Hogwarts this weekend to go to talk to my parent's lawyers on where I am going to school next year," Rebecca simply stated.  
  
"What?" Russel asked as Ryan just stood there in shock. He didn't know anything about Rebecca possibly not coming back.  
  
"Just what I said," Rebecca said, noticing Ryan had gotten really quiet all of the sudden.  
  
"So you are going back to Beauxbatons next year?"  
  
"Won't know that until I get to the office and hear my choices, now will I? Can we get through, now?"  
  
Ryan finally got over the initial shock and quietly asked, "You are going to come back if you get the choice?"  
  
"Does it really matter?"  
  
"Yes!" "I would be giving up a lot if I left this school and I am not just talking about my boyfriend, which I am sure you think that would be the major factor in my decision. But like I said before I am going to have to wait to see what choices I have," Rebecca retorted back. "Now please, we need to go get some homework done."  
  
Ryan gestured to let Hans, Dan, and Sam to know to get out of her way.  
  
Rebecca walked past with no incident but when Colin tried to follow, Dan snidely asked, "Is Tyson up yet?"  
  
This infuriated Colin as well as Rebecca that Dan had the nerve to say anything about Cathrine. Colin was about to throw a punch when Rebecca grabbed his arm so he wouldn't get in trouble and said, "Allow me," as she took her wand out of her pocket.  
  
She only had it about half way out when Dan started running away with Sam and Hans close behind him.  
  
"What in the world?" Rebecca muttered staring at the backs of the running Slytherins.  
  
"They think you are going to curse them," Russel stated.  
  
Rebecca looked at Colin and shrug her shoulders as she said, "I'll have to remember that. It is a good way to get rid of them when they are annoying me."  
  
Colin laughed at Rebecca's comment, which made Ryan see red and commented, "So who is taking Cathrine's place on the team since she obviously still lying in the hospital wing. ... Well that is where you both were coming from wasn't it?"  
  
"As I said before, Malfoy," Rebecca hissed. "We'll just have to see if Cathrine doesn't play the last match. It is after all at the end of May."  
  
Rebecca and Colin turned and hurried away from Ryan and Russel.  
  
Once the two Gryffindors were out of earshot Russel said, "There is something up with that team. There is no way that Wood would just sit around and not train someone in case Cathrine doesn't wake up. You know Anna is leaving the team at the end of the year, this would be a perfect opportunity to train someone as her replacement."  
  
"Yeah, I know. I just don't know how to get Rebecca to slip up and tell me who it is," Ryan responded as they started to walk to the Slytherin's common room.  
  
"Well, Kirsta had a run in with Chelsea Drown and she said that Chelsea didn't know who it was going to be. Harvey amazingly managed to get Lauren to say she didn't know. I saw Lennon McCartney talking to Weasely's brother and overheard him say that he didn't know what was going to happen if Tyson didn't wake up."  
  
"Yeah, I know Cassie did some snooping for me too and she came back with the same thing. I just have this gut feeling that Rebecca knows. Weasely would have told her. I just need to find a way to get her to talk."  
  
"Well you know there are other ways to find out the info," said Russel slyly.  
  
"What do you have in mind?"  
  
"Let me get everything figure out and then I will let you in on it okay?"  
  
"As long as it doesn't take you forever, fine by me," Ryan said as he entered the common room.  
  
"Oh it won't, don't worry," Russel said with a smile.  
  
Colin and Rebecca walked up to the common room together and then went to their own rooms. Rebecca got changed and was about to walk out when she saw a letter on her bed.  
  
Dear Rebecca,  
  
I am so sorry to hear that your friend Cathrine got hurt at the last quidditch match and that you have to learn her position. I would tell you congratulations on learning the position so quickly, but I know it isn't what you want to hear. I think it would be best if you took the approach that your fellow chaser, Anna, had said. 'You aren't taking Cathrine's place on the team, you're being trained to be Anna's replacement next year.' Cathrine will wake up and be as good as new. Trust me, I have a good feeling about this. On a side note, I thought you might like to know Anna Prewitt and Erica King were excited when they heard that you finally got into quidditch. They thought you would be the only person in the wizarding world to not understand the game.(I know you have a confused look on your face. Yes, you know them. They are both in our year and are two of the chasers here. Anna has long light brown hair, pale gray eyes, and is sort of short (okay she is very short, but that's beside the point). Erica is a blonde about your height and has ice blue eyes. Can you place them now?) Of course once, I told them that Charlie was the seeker on your team and that you two were dating, they said it was about time you found someone to make you learn the game (I have a feeling that they thought that you would be good at the sport if you ever decided to get your nose out of a book a try it).  
  
Anyways, enough of your slight problem , on to mine; I found out information on Emily (and not just that she has blonde hair and blue eyes and she is adventurous and funny and that from the stories I have gotten it seems that she is a bit of a prankster) It seems to me that they were friends first, then started to date and Ty transferring cause their break up. Ty is still as attentive as he ever was to me and the same sweet guy he always has been, but when he got that letter he just lit up. Now, he seems to be a million miles away now. I can't say that I am jealous of Emily, but I also can't say that I am not either. I had never seen him like that. And I was so happy that he was as happy as he was, but part of me wished it was me that made. What should I do? Part of me wants to break up with him so that he and Emily could have a chance at a relationship (Even though it would be a long distance one) and the other part of me wants to keep dating him. What should I do? I am so torn. I really like him, but I wouldn't go as far as to say that I am in love with him and right at the moment I don't even know why I would mind us breaking up if we were still friends. That is the drama in my life (Well that and studying for the O.W.L.s, which isn't going to well. Hopefully I have started early enough to get everything done that I need to.)  
  
Well, I have to get going. Hope everything is going well with you and that Cathrine has woken up by the time you get this letter.  
  
Later,  
  
Stacy  
  
Rebecca wrote a quick note back telling her to follow her heart with the whole Ty/Emily situation and then gave her a quick update on how things were going for her. She made sure to tell her of Sam, Hans, and Dan's reaction to her pulling out her wand.  
  
Rebecca had fun the next day. Every time she saw Sam, Hans, and Dan all she had to do was put her hand near her pocket and they ran the opposite way with very scared faces, which sent not only Rebecca but also the other student around her (excluding the Slytherins, of course) to burst into laughter.  
  
By Thursday the fun of it woren off, but Rebecca still found it useful when Hans and Dan were in the corridor that she need to go down to get to the Gryffindor locker room. After scaring the two off, she preceded to the locker room. Inside, she changed while Wood talked strategy with the other team members.  
  
Under normal circumstance, he would have reamed Rebecca (or anyone else for that matter) for being late and not changed yet, but instead as Rebecca took a seat between Charlie and Anna and finished putting on her arm pads, he said, "I take it you had no problems."  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca responded checking to see if she had her arm pads on correctly. "I ran into Hans and Dan in a corridor, but I scared them off."  
  
"You don't think that they suspect anything do you?" Aaron sounded genuinely worried, but it appeared to be less about keeping Rebecca as a secret weapon and more about keeping her safe from foul play.  
  
looked directly at him in the eye and said, "No, it was fairly close to the library and I had that with me." She pointed at her book bag that she had dropped on the floor next to her locker. "They probably assumed that I was heading there. . Don't worry, they were headed the opposite direction of the library so they didn't take refuge there. Besides even if they were there, they would have thought I went to see Cathrine instead of going to the library."  
  
Aaron nodded seeming a little take back by Rebecca answering his unasked question. "Very good," he finally said. "Let's go to the pitch then."  
  
As they walked down to the field, Charlie whispered to Rebecca, "You know you ought to try to be a little bit later next time." Rebecca looked at him quizzically as Charlie's face broke out into a smile. "He freaks out when any of us is late, but you get him worried enough that it's hilarious. If you would have been a minute or two later, oh I bet we would have seen something great."  
  
Charlie chuckled as Rebecca mischievously said, "Serves him right. He was the one that wanted me to be late. 'We need you to be kept as our secret weapon. I want you to come in for practice after the other. No one would ever expect me to let anyone on the team be late to practice,'" Rebecca mimicked.  
  
"He is just afraid that someone figured it out and is out to get you now," Charlie said soberly. "I got to admit the thought has crossed my mind too, but you haven't got caught yet ." Charlie's voice trailed off.  
  
Rebecca stopped just behind Greg, Heath, and A.J. who were standing shoulder to shoulder and weren't moving at all making it so Rebecca couldn't see what made Charlie stop talking so she asked, "What's going on?"  
  
"I don't believe it," stated Charlie.  
  
"What?"  
  
"The Slytherin team is here."  
  
Rebecca couldn't see if this was true or not and part of her didn't want to either, because if she could see them then they could see her. Besides, she knew Charlie wasn't joking from the look on his face. Rebecca could help but to desperately want Charlie to turn towards her and say 'I gotcha' with a big smile on his face.  
  
She, however, got the definite confirmation she would have gotten from looking when she heard Wood yell at the Slytherin Captain, Jason Calloway, "What do you think you are doing here? We booked this time!"  
  
"We are here for two things," Calloway answered coolly.  
  
"And what is that?" Aaron asked through gritted teeth.  
  
"Well to see who your new chaser is and how good they are."  
  
"You could do that from the stands, why are you here with your team dressed for practice and with brooms in hand."  
  
Rebecca could tell from the tone in his voice that Wood was trying very hard to keep his cool.  
  
"Oh, now, come on, like you would practice anything good with us just watching. I bet you would have had everyone falling off of their brooms so we would think that you were cracking up. So we are here to challenge you to a scrimmage."  
  
There was an eerie silence Rebecca could sense that the two captains were staring each other down. Calloway was the one that finally broke the silence when he said, "What are you the 'brave' Gryffindors too scared to take the challenge?"  
  
"No, we'll take it," Rebecca answered from behind her fellow team mates. She didn't say it loud enough for anyone on the Slytherin team to hear her, but Wood got the message as did the rest of the team.  
  
"You're on," Wood answered loud enough for the Slytherins to hear.  
  
"Good," Calloway said. "Now let's see who this new chaser is."  
  
After a second Heath, A.J., and Greg moved revealing Rebecca. Staring right at Calloway, Rebecca took a few steps forward. Anna and Greg flanked her as Rebecca continued to stare at the seventh year, who wore his black hair slicked back like Ryan and had piercing blue eyes.  
  
It wasn't until Ryan stepped into her view and said "I knew something was up, but I never would have guessed you would have been the new chaser," did Rebecca take her gaze off of Calloway.  
  
"Well, now you know who you are up against if Cathrine doesn't play at the match," Rebecca coolly responded.  
  
"Let's play," Calloway said.  
  
"In a moment," Wood said. "I suggest we use a new start."  
  
"You don't mean everyone starting on the ground."  
  
"Yeah, unless you are too scared to do it?"  
  
There was another moment of uncanny silence where Wood and Calloway just glared at each other.  
  
"Of course, not. Let me just get my team ready for it," Calloway said as he turned towards his team.  
  
Aaron walked over to the rest of the team and in a hushed voice said, "Please don't use your best moves today. Simple clean flying."  
  
All the chasers shook their heads in agreement.  
  
"Good. Now the way this works is that we all form a sort of circle with our brooms on the ground. The beaters are behind everyone while the chasers are staggered. Charlie you'll be positioned close to me. The bludgers are released as well as the snitch. McGuire and I will stand in the middle with the quaffle and will throw it up on the count of three. Once it is up, everyone gets on their brooms and we play with the same rules as we normally do."  
  
As the Wood finished up his explanation of how they were to start this scrimmage, Rebecca asked, "Can any of the chasers get the quaffle?"  
  
"Yep, it is who ever can get their broom up and on it the quickest is the one that gets the quaffle first," Wood answered looking at Rebecca who seemed to be formulating something that he assumed was a strategy.  
  
"Do you have to be on your broom when you get the quaffle?"  
  
"No not necessarily, but... What do you have going through your head?"  
  
Rebecca looked around the group and saw that they all were all looking at her with the same questioning look on their faces.  
  
"Well, I was just thinking," she started sort of on the timid side, but with increased confidence as she continued. "Why can't one of us chasers jump for the quaffle as everyone else gets on their brooms?"  
  
Everyone just stared at her waiting for her to go on. She then went on to explain that she could with little help from one of the guys probably jump high enough to catch the quaffle, throw it off to one of the other chasers, and get on her broom with out ever touching the ground.  
  
Wood pondered what Rebecca just said and then finally stated, "It sounds like a pretty fancy stunt if you ask me, but we wouldn't be revealing anything since this isn't how we are going to ever start a match. We can try it as long as you are sure that you will not get hurt trying it." "Trust me, I will be able to call my broom up to me as I go down and as long as I get rid of the quaffle right away I will be able to catch the handle."  
  
"Throw it to me as soon as you get it in your hands," Greg said through gritted teeth so that if any Slytherins were looking over they couldn't read his lips. "Anna, be ready of it as soon as you get on your broom."  
  
Anna coughed a little. She covered her mouth with her hand to stifle the cough and make it so she could say, "Okay, but pass it to me down the field. We might be able to get goal before McGuire gets down to the hoops."  
  
"I said no fancy flying," Wood seriously whispered. It was Rebecca's turn to cover up her talking.  
  
As she raised her hand to her face and rubbed it in a manner that would have indicated that she was nervous to an on looker she quietly said, "We're not going to fly fancy. It is just that the start is fancy enough that we might be able to get a goal really easily. Don't worry, Wood, we aren't going to show them anything new."  
  
Wood was about to respond when Calloway yelled over, "We ready to go?"  
  
Aaron then turned and replied, "About time."  
  
The teams then walked over to the center of the field and formed the circle that Wood had described.  
  
Rebecca threw down her Comet, which was one of the top brooms that were manufactured, and started to walk away.  
  
"What's the matter, Rebecca," Ryan snidely said. "You scared?"  
  
Rebecca turned and looked at him standing there behind Wood and McGuire as if he was the one designated to catch the Quaffle for the Slytherins. He was looking so smug that she said in a low voice, "You wish."  
  
She then noticed that Wood and McGuire were ready to start the toss up so she quickly returned to the circle. Right when the quaffle went up Rebecca put her foot in Charlie's hands for him to help her jump up.  
  
The move Rebecca had created threw the Slytherins off. They had all managed to call their brooms up, but the sight of Rebecca popping up in the air with out a broom to get the quaffle and calling her broom up to her stunned them for a moment. By the time Rebecca threw the quaffle to Greg and swung herself on to her broom so that she was riding it properly while Greg passed the quaffle to Anna, everyone had recomposed themselves and started to fly.  
  
Unfortunately for the Slytherin team, Anna was able to get far enough down the pitch that she was able to score before McGuire could get to the hoops.  
  
The rest of the scrimmage was more evenly matched, partly because the Gryffindor chasers were holding back and not doing anything fancy. Russel and Charlie were the only ones who seemed to be showing any moves that the other one might not have known about, because they both were determined to get the snitch before the other.  
  
After about 45 minutes, Gryffindor was up by twenty points and both seekers went into a dive neck and neck. Charlie managed to pull ahead and grab the snitch before Russel could just as Rebecca scored again. Charlie landed followed by his fellow teammates.  
  
They were all shouting and cheering that they had beaten Slytherin excited that they didn't give up any knowledge of the maneuvers they actually could execute. Rebecca gave Charlie a hug thinking that the bet between the two of them and Russel had was over. As she let go of Charlie, they both just smiled at each other, until they heard Russel laughing.  
  
Charlie took a step towards him with a questioning look and was about to say something when Russel said, "Good thing this wasn't the real match. I would have lost my dream date."  
  
Charlie was about to rush the Slytherin seeker and give him another good black eye as the Slytherin team retreated from the stadium, but Rebecca collapsed on the field causing Charlie to stop going after Russel to check on her.  
  
As he pulled Rebecca back to her feet, he asked, "Are you okay?"  
  
"Um, yeah," Rebecca whispered. "I was just was shocked. I thought it was over with. But I guess I should have known better. It was you who got it at the match and not at a scrimmage."  
  
Rebecca gave out a sigh and picked back her broom and headed back to the locker room. 


	21. The Lawyer's

The news of the scrimmage spread around the school like wild fire. By Friday night, instead of being nervous, Rebecca was actually glad to have to go to London to visit the lawyers.  
  
She was tired of being asked what it was like to be Cathrine's replacement and having to answer a million questions about her Comet broom.  
  
'You'd think that they had never been on a broom. I bet Ryan put them up to it,' Rebecca thought once when she was leaving a group of first year Slytherin that had just bombarded her with flying questions. She also was tired of snide remarks from the Slytherin team usually lead by Calloway.  
  
And above everything else, she was tired of worrying that the Slytherins (especially two in particular) might come back into the Gryffindor tower and try to pull something, which since she got out of the infirmary had been her worst fear. Colin had set up some pranks to stop intruders, but without Cathrine, his confidence in them diminished leaving Rebecca not feeling overly protected by them at all even though some were quite brillant.  
  
After quidditch practice on Friday, Rebecca headed back to the locker room with the rest of her team and then went up to her room to change for the trip to London. With being picked up by a representative of the lawyer, Rebecca decided it would be best to dress up for the lawyer before she left so that if she fell asleep on the train that would be one less thing for her to worry about when she woke up in London. After changing into a charcoal black straight skirt with a slit off centered to the left in the front and a sage green blouse with a white tank top under it, Rebecca checked her bag to make sure that she had everything packed that she needed. She then went downstairs said good bye to her friends and then walked down to the find Hagrid, who was going to take her to Hogsmeade's station.  
  
Downstairs, Rebecca set her stuff down on the stairs and settled down to wait for Hagrid. As she waited, Dumbledore walked into the hall with a man with long slicked back white blonde hair. Rebecca recognized the man as Lucius Malfoy, Ryan's uncle.  
  
She held her breathe hoping that he wouldn't see her. He always freaked her out and having nightmares after talking with him was a common occurrence for Rebecca when she was younger.  
  
Unfortunately, she wasn't that lucky as the two men passed her, Mr. Malfoy looked over and immediately seized her hand pulling her up from her sit saying, "Why, my dear, Miss Carter, I have not seen you in ages. How are you doing?"  
  
Rebecca twisted out her hand out of his grip as she answered, "I am fine."  
  
She tried to leave it at that, but Lucius said, "Wonderful to hear that. I am here to see my nephew, Ryan. You two were always unseparateable. You wouldn't know where he is, would you?"  
  
"Nope."  
  
"Really? . I thought you would be the one person that could say without blinking an eye. It was the way it was when they were younger," he commented to Dumbledore.  
  
"Well that may have been the way it was, but now it isn't," Rebecca replied as pleasantly as she could manage.  
  
"Oh," Mr. Malfoy said. He appeared to be thinking very hard about what Rebecca just said until he caught sight of her luggage. "Where are you headed tonight?"  
  
"Miss Carter," Dumbledore started, "is going to London to discuss what will happen next year."  
  
"Really?" Lucius said as he turned towards Rebecca.  
  
Rebecca weakly smiled and said, "Yep, and I am going to get another piece to the puzzle of my past as usual."  
  
Hagird came walking up and said, "Alright there, Rebecca? You ready to go?"  
  
Hagrid grabbed her back and lead her out of the castle but not before Rebecca noted the worried look on Lucius' face after the last thing she said.  
  
'Wonder what is up with him?' she thought as she got in the carriage outside the castle which would take her to the train. When the carriage stopped, Rebecca climbed out still pondering why the words 'piece to the puzzle of my past' would get such a reaction from anyone.  
  
As she stepped on to the train, Hagrid pulled her out of her daze when he said, "Now the carriage will be here when you return on Sunday. Have a safe trip."  
  
"Thanks, Hagrid. Bye!" Rebecca said as she turned to go find a compartment that she could settle into and possible get some sleep hoping for no nightmares; because she was tired from practice and she knew when she hit London she wouldn't get a chance to catch up on sleep.  
  
Rebecca walked into the castle upon her return from her trip to the lawyers exhausted physically, mentally, and emotionally. She looked as though she was really ready to go to bed rather than dinner having changed on the train into a pair of blue pajama pants and a grey t-shirt, but she had ever every intention to just go up to the Gryffindor tower throw her stuff into her room and then go into the Great Hall and let everyone know she was back. But as she crossed the open door way of the Great Hall she heard something that caught her attention.  
  
"Well, he was just seventeen,  
  
You know what I mean,  
  
And the way he looked was way beyond compare,  
  
So how could I dance with another,  
  
Oh when I saw him standing there"  
  
Rebecca looked in and saw Lennon singing to Bill. 'Oh, so that is the song she finally decided on,' Rebecca thought to herself as she leaned up against the door. She still was going to go upstairs before she ate, but she wasn't about to miss this.  
  
Well he looked at me,  
  
And I, I could see,  
  
That before too long I'd fall in love with him,  
  
He wouldn't dance with another,  
  
Oh when I saw him standing there.  
  
Rebecca smiled as Lennon continued to sing to Bill with all the students looking at them. Russel walked up behind Rebecca and asked, "What's going on?"  
  
Rebecca was so tired that she didn't register that it was Russel and sweetly said, "Lennon and Bill had a bet that Lennon lossed, and so she has to sing in front of everyone so that the school knows they are a couple now. It took her forever to decide which song she wanted to do."  
  
Rebecca chuckled a little as Russel said, "Oh ... Didn't they go to the ball together?"  
  
Rebecca paused for a moment and then responded, "Yeah, they did, didn't they? I forgot about that."  
  
Rebecca started to smile even wider.  
  
Well my heart went boom as I crossed that room,  
  
And I held his hand in mine.  
  
Oh we danced through the night,  
  
And we held each other tight,  
  
And before to long I fell in love with him,  
  
Now I'll never dance with another,  
  
Oh when I saw him standing there.  
  
Lennon took Bill's hand and got him to his feet and they started to dance. Russel looked at Rebecca who was still staring at the couple through her tired eyes.  
  
"So," he started wondering whether Rebecca had mellowed out about him over her trip. "How was the visit to the lawyers?"  
  
"Long and exhausting. I am glad to be back," Rebecca said with a big yawn.  
  
Russel took a step closer to her and dared to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. Rebecca, being as exhausted as she was, didn't flinch or anything as he did this, so he decided it would be a good time to talk to her about everything so he asked, "Rebecca, can I talk to you about the bet and everything else that happened?"  
  
Rebecca still didn't realize it was Russel talking to her so she shook her head yes and said, "I have to go get rid of my bag and then I'll come down for dinner."  
  
"Okay, we can talk then."  
  
Well my heart went boom as I crossed that room,  
  
And I held his hand in mine.  
  
Oh we danced through the night,  
  
And we held each other tight,  
  
And before too long I fell in love with him,  
  
Now I'll never dance with another,  
  
Oh since I saw him standing there.  
  
Oh since I saw him standing there.  
  
(Altered version of the Beatles' I Saw Her Standing There)  
  
As Lennon finished the song, and the students applauded, Rebecca readjusted her duffle bag on her shoulder and headed up the stairs unaware that she had just made Russel's day and that he had turned to walk into the Great Hall with the biggest smile on his face.  
  
Rebecca approached the portrait of the Fat Lady and gave the old password only to find out that they had finally changed it. She had no clue what the new password could be, so she put her bag down on the ground and contemplated going back down stairs to get the password from either Charlie or one of her friends, but the thought of going down the stairs and back up with her heavy bag did not appeal to her. Rebecca sat down with on the floor next to her bag to wait for someone to return or come out of the common room. She had barely got down on the floor when she felt her eyelids get really heavy and that her neck couldn't support her head. Rebecca fell asleep almost immediately when her head hit her bag.   
  
Aaron, A.J., and Bill found her when they came up from dinner. A.J. and Aaron were ragging on Bill for Lennon's serenade.   
  
"Yeah, well, you guys can say what you want, but we had fun and there is nothing you can say to." Bill stopped talking when he looked over to see Rebecca sleeping with her bag as her pillow. The two quidditch players looked to see what stopped Bill from finishing his sentence.   
  
"I wonder how long she has been back," pondered Aaron walking towards his new chaser.   
  
A.J. walked over behind him asking, "Do you think that Charlie knows she is back?"   
  
"I don't think so," Bill said as he bent squatted down beside her, "he would have been up here if he did."  
  
"I am going to go find him and let him know Becca made it back." A.J. walked back down the stairs to find Charlie.  
  
"Guess we better get her up off the cold floor," Bill said looking at Wood.   
  
Aaron shook his head in agreement and the guys went into action. Bill picked up his brother's girlfriend as Aaron grabbed her bag. Rebecca woke up for a moment as Bill gave the new password (Snickerdoodles) to the Fat Lady.   
  
"Hey," she softly said. "Saw Lennon decided on a song finally."  
  
Bill smiled down at her as the portrait and said, "Yeah, she actually knew for a while, but with Cathrine getting hurt and everything it just wasn't the right time after the match. She decided to surprise me tonight. Glad you were able to see it."   
  
"Me, too," Rebecca weakly said as she drifted back to sleep in Bill's arms.   
  
Bill and Aaron looked at each other for a moment wondering what to do with the sleeping fifth year.   
  
"She looks as though she is ready for bed," Aaron finally commented.   
  
Bill shook his head and said, "Let's put her in bed then."   
  
Up in the fifth year girls' dorm, the guys set Rebecca down in her bed just as Charlie ran into the room followed by the rest of his group of friends.   
  
"Is she okay?" he asked anxiously.   
  
"Yeah, she was just asleep in the hall when we found her, bro."   
  
Charlie bent over and gave Rebecca a kiss. Her eyes fluttered open.   
  
"Hey, handsome," she meekly said.   
  
"Hey, beautiful. How are you?"   
  
"I'm," Rebecca started as her eyes closed and she them muttered, "fine."   
  
"Night, Becca," Charlie whispered then gave her another kiss. He then turned to his friends and said, "I am sure she'll be better in the morning. Let's just let her sleep in piece."   
  
With that, the four boys and two girls left to study in the common room.   
  
Rebecca awoke the next day feel a little better, but still really exhausted. She had had nightmares all weekend long so her sleep at the lawyers was sporadic and even though she had slept well Sunday night it wasn't enough to get her caught up.   
  
At breakfast, she could tell that her friends were dying to ask her what happened at the lawyer's and more importantly whether she was going to be staying or not, but they restrained themselves since between Rebecca yawning and shoveling food into her mouth, there wasn't a good moment to ask her. They couldn't blame her since she hadn't been able to eat anything the night before so she was famished.   
  
Jacquelyn was about to burst when they started to get up from the table and Rebecca hadn't said word one about the subject and had grabbed another piece of toast. They were about out the door when Rebecca realized she had forgotten something very important up in her room.   
  
"I'll meet you in class," she managed to get out before she took off up the steps.   
  
"What do you think is up with her?" Colin pondered out loud.   
  
"Don't know, we'll ask her when she gets to class," Sara calmly said as she started ushering everyone towards the potion's room.   
  
"You would think she would have told us by now what happened," Jacquelyn said as she went down the steps.   
  
Sara was about to say something, but James said, "Well you saw how tired she was last night. She practically fell asleep mid-sentence."   
  
"But still that was last night and it is the morning," chimed in Colin as he took his usual seat. He would have said more but the sight of Cathrine's usual spot silenced him.   
  
"She'll be up in no time at all," Charlie said as he took his seat next to the glum jester.   
  
Colin nodded and whispered, "I hope soon."   
  
Rebecca came dashing down the stairs with a piece of sealed parchment in her hands and was almost to the potions door when she saw Russel heading into the room. He was talking with Hans about something and stopped just outside of the door. Unfortunately, even though she tried to stop herself, Rebecca was too close so that when he stopped she ran right into him.   
  
"Ouch," she muttered when she hit the floor with a thud.   
  
Russel turned around about to tell her to watch where she was going, but when he saw that it was her his anger melted away and he softly said, "Hey, you okay?"   
  
"Yeah, I think so. I guess I won't have to go to Madame Pompfrey this time," Rebecca replied. She had to restrain herself from laughing at her last comment. It had to be the first time that she had been on the fallen because of Russel that she didn't have to make a trip to the infirmary.   
  
"Well, that is good to hear."   
  
Russel smiled as he helped her gather up her things.   
  
'She is accepting my help! Maybe I was wrong she didn't snub me last night she just didn't come back at all to the Great Hall. She was acting every tired after all. Today she seems fine though, maybe it means that she isn't mad at me anymore. I have to find out,' Russel thought as he picked up the piece of parchment that Rebecca had dropped.   
  
"So, what happened to you last night?" he asked about to hand the paper back her.   
  
Rebecca screwed up her face and asked, "What do you mean?"   
  
"You said last night that you would be coming back down for dinner and we could talk. I was wondering what happened?"   
  
"I fell asleep," Rebecca said through gritted teeth as she sna tched the parchment out of his hand and started into the room.   
  
"Oh, well you did seem really tried. Glad to hear that you rested. ... Um, can we talk later today then?"   
  
Rebecca whipped around so fast that if she hadn't been determined to keep her balance she probably would have been on the ground again.   
  
"Now, listen here," she started. "I have been more than generous with talking to you. And all it has done is landed me in the infirmary. I told you that I was done listening to you and don't think that just because when I was tired and didn't know exactly what I was doing, I said I would talk with you means that I will be held to it, you-you piece of scum."   
  
Rebecca walked into the room and plopped down on her sit next to Charlie. Russel followed her in and strategically stood where if Charlie, Greg, Colin, or James tried to take a swing at him they would get Rebecca too.   
  
"You may think I am a piece of scum now," Russel started getting his nose about an inch from Rebecca's, "but you don't know the whole story. Trust me, I am going to get that snitch from under Weasley's nose at the match and then you will have to stop this little denial game you are playing and you are going to have to listen to my side and then you will regret ever calling me that."   
  
Russel started walk away when Rebecca definitely said, "Charlie beat you before. He'll beat you again."   
  
It was Russel's turn to spin around. He glared at Rebecca and hissed, "He barely got it last time. I will get it this time. I guarantee it."   
  
Charlie was about to get up and say something to contradict the Slytherin Seeker, but Snape entered the room and started the lesson.   
  
Rebecca turned towards Charlie and mouthed, "Sorry."   
  
"About what?" Charlie mouthed back.   
  
"The bet."   
  
Charlie shook his head to tell her not to think about it. Rebecca nodded and turned back to the front of the room. Suddenly she turned back to her friends with wide eyes.   
  
They all looked at her wondering what the matter was. She put her finger up to her mouth to tell them to stay quiet and then she whispered, "I haven't told anyone yet. I did have choices this weekend and each had strings attached to them. So I have a couple things to do, but once I get them done I will be returning here next school year."   
  
Rebecca turned back to what Snape was saying about the potions they were attempting that day unaware that Charlie wanted nothing more than to kiss her right then and there and the rest of the group just wanted to hug her.   
  
At the end of class, Rebecca started to put her stuff away, when Charlie grabbed her arm and pulled her in towards him. Before she could say anything to find out what was going on, he kissed her in front of everyone. Ryan had turned around just as they stopped kissing.   
  
"Wow," Rebecca whispered as the rest of the group rushed around her and gave her a big group hug. They all tumbled to the ground and started laughing.   
  
"What is up with you guys?" Rebecca laughed as Charlie pulled her up out from everyone.   
  
"We are just so happy that you said you were coming back next year," Greg said as he got up and helped Sara off of the floor.   
  
"So you surround me and try to make me faint, I'll remember that," Rebecca laughed.   
  
Colin who was the most sober of the group quietly said, "Sorry, we forgot that you were claustrophobic. ... We all just realized that we would truly miss having you around this weekend and in our joy to hear that you choice to come back we got a little over exuberant. It's really quite amazing how attached we all have become of you in such a short time. Truth be told, we all hadn't noticed until you were gone for the weekend how much of an integral part of the group you had become. The idea of you choosing to return to Hogwarts and finish up with us was just like an early Christmas present."   
  
Everyone was taken back not only by the seriousness of Colin, but the truth of his words.   
  
Rebecca rushed towards the sweet jester and gave him a huge bear hug as she whispered in her ear, "Thank you."   
  
Rebecca let go as Charlie said with a huge smile on his face, "Well, I think we better get going to Herbology."   
  
Rebecca turned to finish packing her bag and caught a glance of a livid Ryan walk out with Cassie and a glaring Russel.   
  
'Okay obvious that little scene didn't go over to well with everyone,' she thought as she picked up the parchment that she had forgotten earlier in the day.   
  
"Ready to go?" Charlie said as he picked up his bag and walked to her side.   
  
"Um, yeah, I have to do something first, I'll meet you out in the hall."   
  
Charlie looked at her stangely but shook his head and headed out the door as Rebecca headed up to speak with Professor Snape.   
  
"Professor?" asked Rebecca asked as she approached Snape at the front of the room.   
  
"Yes, Miss Carter?" Snape asked turning towards his best pupil with this look that Rebecca had never seen before. It was hard for her to pinpoint what it meant. It definitely wasn't a look of loathing, but it was clear that he wasn't happy she had came up after class. "Did you break something when your group of friends went down?"   
  
"Oh," Rebecca blushed profusely and looked down at her feet relieved that she hadn't really upset the teacher, but embarrassed at the same time. "No, nothing got broken. ..." Keeping her head down, Rebecca looked up at Snape with her eyes and sincerely said, "Sorry about that. Um, well, to make a long story short, I didn't know whether I would be allowed to come back to Hogwarts next year until this weekend. When I went to London, I told them that I wanted to come back to finish up. Unfortunately I was really tired last night when I got back and I am not sure exactly what happened this morning, but I only got to tell my friends this at the beginning of class. And even though they stifled their joy for the whole class, they couldn't wait any longer when we were getting ready to leave to let me know how happy they were. ... It won't happen again."   
  
Snape's face changed the hard look that he had given the fifth year before melted away and it appeared that he was stifling some emotions of his own as he stated, "Well I guess for this one time there is no need to give punishment when someone new says that they want to say with us and the celebration doesn't disturb class. ... Yes, I dare say that next year my N.E.W.T. class might have seemed lacking talent if you weren't in it."   
  
"Oh, yeah, I forgot that it went more selective after we take our O.W.L.s."   
  
The tone in Rebecca's voice revealed to Snape that she was feeling as nervous as the rest of the fifth years, so to relieve her fears, he quietly stated, "Of all the students I have taught. You are the one that I know without a doubt in my mind that will be in potions after O.W.L. scores come out."   
  
Rebecca slightly smiled as her anxiety of the potion test subsided slightly and said, "Thanks. ... Um, Professor, speaking of tests, the lawyer sent me this letter to give to you. I am assuming that I am going to get tested on something to do with potions, before it is official that I am coming back to Hogwarts."   
  
Snape turned towards her with a puzzled looked and took the sealed parchment from her hand. He looked at the letter seeing that it was addressed "Potions Master of Hogwarts" and then opened it.   
  
After a moment, he finished reading it and said, "You are correct on the potions part and from what I get from this letter it does have something to do with you coming back or not. However, it appears that you get as many chances as you need to get the potion right, but will have to produce it correctly as many times in a row as I deem fit."   
  
Snape reread the letter with this giddy expression on his face. Rebecca didn't know how to take all of this. She was use to strange stipulations coming out of her parents will, but without any more information than Snape gave her she felt more confused about his one than any other.   
  
After a moment of just staring at her potions teacher, Rebecca finally composed herself enough to open her mouth to ask a question, but before she could get a single sound out, Snape said, "Well, we will have to set up times to do this. You need to get to your next class so I will talk to you later about this and let you read this letter since it says that I should."   
  
"Yes, Pofessor," Rebecca quietly said as she looked down at her watch to see that there was no room for asking to see the letter now.   
  
As she rushed out of the classroom, someone grabbed her arm.   
  
Rebecca was really startled by this and would have screamed a little if it hadn't been that it was Charlie and he had kissed her which would have muffled any sound that came out of her mouth.   
  
When Charlie let go of Rebecca she took a step back and said, "If this is the welcome I get for being gone a weekend, I can't wait to see what happens when Cathrine wakes up."   
  
Everyone smiled thinking of Cathrine being awake.   
  
"Well won't that call for a bash," stated James as he started down the hall towards Herbology holding Jacquelyn's hand.   
  
"A bash like the Queen's Jubilee they are planning," said Sara excited as she and Greg started down the hall.   
  
"Yeah, I can see it now it will be like the Fourth of July in the States," Rebecca commented as she took Charlie's outstretched hand. Every single one in the group just looked at her. "What? I was over in the states last summer right after Wadsworth's death until it was about a week before I came here. It was a huge bash over there. There were parades and huge groups of people picnicking. At night, they had fireworks and everyone wore ..."   
  
"Uh, Rebecca," Sara interrupted, "Why were you over there for so long?"   
  
"I don't know. The will said how long. To tell the truth I was glad to be out of the house for that long it would have been hard to be there and not have Wadsworth there."   
  
"What are you going to do this summer then when you have to be there and he isn't?" asked Colin looking at her concerned.   
  
"Oh, I didn't think of that. I think I have grown up enough since then to be able to handle it. Of course, I might not get to find out."   
  
"What do you mean?" Greg asked.   
  
"Well, um, oh, I guess I'll start with the choices" Rebecca slowly started as they continued down the hall towards the door that would take them outside. "I had three of them. Each one had to do with what school I ended up going to and each had its own set of stipulations. Well, Durmstang really didn't have anything to it. In fact what I got from the lawyers that choice might have let me out of any more stipulations that were written in it. ... Anyways, then there was the Beauxbaton choice. It was that I got to do what I wanted this summer, but when I went back to Beauxbaton I had to be resorted and there were still more stipulations to come with my final two years. ... The third choice was obviously coming back to Hogwarts. It had a massive amount of strings attached to it. I am going to be told what I am doing for the next two summer holidays and stipulations are going to keep coming, which are going to test me on my magical abilities. So I am going to have to get through O.W.L.s, N.E.W.T.s, and from what I can get something close to being like B.A.T.s (Bad Auror Trest) now."   
  
"The entrance exam for auror training?" asked Charlie impressed.   
  
"Yep"  
  
"Those are suppose to be the tougher than anything we could imagine," James said.   
  
"Hmm-hmmm."   
  
"You choose the Hogwarts Choice even though you go back to your old friends and not have to worry about that?" questioned Colin as they walked out the door.  
  
"Yeah, but other than Stacy, I really don't have a lot of friends that I talk to there. I have better friends here that would miss me than would be happy to see me back."  
  
"What about Ben?" asked Sara.   
  
"I haven't heard from him in months," Rebecca relied a little miffed. "He might be happy to see me, but will I really feel like we are friends? Ryan use to write me all the time before I came here, so when I came here I knew someone liked me. I don't even get a hi from Ben or any of my other friends for that matter other than through Stacy's letters. In fact the last letter I got from her mentioned two people I barely talked to said something that I might like to know and nothing from anyone else."   
  
"Yeah but how do you know that we won't be the same way?" Jacquelyn questioned unsure of the confidence in them that Rebecca was exhibiting.   
  
"Oh, well I got the chance to sort of spy on you guys," Rebecca slyly said.   
  
"Go on," Colin ordered as he held the door to the greenhouse open for everyone in the group to go in.   
  
"Well," Rebecca continued, "before I was allowed to make my final decision, I got to look in to one of the schools to help me make the decision. At Hogwarts and Beauxbaton I would get to see my friends, but at Durmstang, I would just be checking out the atmosphere. Well, I missed you guys, so I choose to see Hogwarts. I looked into the fire of the common room and saw you all sitting around and talking."   
  
"You heard our conversation then?" Sara asked. Rebecca discerned a startled tone in her friend's voice.   
  
"Um, sort of. You were talking so low that I couldn't make out everything, but from what I got you all were expressing that you missed the absent members of this group. . The way you guys were acting I couldn't imagine ever get the cold shoulder from any of you as long as I didn't give you a cold shoulder. And you guys have already proven that I was right. Trust me you guys are the best friends I have had. You have gotten to the same level as Stacy and Ryan in the short time that I have know you all," Rebecca said as she took her seat in Herbology with a huge smile.  
  
Charlie took his seat smiling and slighlty blushing at what Rebecca had just said. He looked around and saw the rest of the group was doing the same.   
  
'We made her happy without knowing it. I don't think that she realizes that is she just did it for us when she came into our lives, especially mine,' he thought as the lesson began.   
  
The rest of the day and on through the week, Rebecca couldn't help but smile every time she saw her friends. It keep her in a good mood that no one was able to damper. Ryan managed to have a fairly civil conversation with her before lunch on Friday.   
  
"Hey," he timidly started when he saw her coming down the steps by herself.   
  
"Hey, stranger! How are you?" Rebecca responded perkily.   
  
"I'm fine. You're obviously doing well so I guess I will ask how your weekend at the lawyers was."   
  
"Um, really tiring, but it had a good result to it," Rebecca responded a little less bubbly but still with a smile on her face.   
  
"That is good. So, are you going to be returning or not?"   
  
"I'll be finishing up here."   
  
"Oh Rebecca, that is wonderful!"   
  
Ryan picked her up and swung her around. Rebecca couldn't help but laugh as he sat her down from the hug.   
  
"Sorry, I couldn't help it," Ryan said with the biggest smile he had given Rebecca in the longest time. "It is just so great that you are coming back!"   
  
"Thanks!" Rebecca laughed. "Um, you aren't going to accuse me of staying because of Charlie, are you?"   
  
"Oh," Ryan quietly muttered and then in a more audible remorseful tone he said, "No. I was really was sore about you not agreeing with me about Charlie neglecting you and then getting another black eye from you, when I implied that would be the only reason that you would come up with to stay is him. I am so sorry. I broke our truce."   
  
Rebecca looked at her friend and wrapped her arms around his neck as she whispered in his ear, "It's okay. . I have to ask, why did you really go after Charlie with the bludger?"   
  
Rebecca backed up wither her arms still around his neck.   
  
Ryan gave out a sigh and slowly started, "I didn't think Weasley had acted soon enough when you were sick and was too righteous about everything so I decided it was time to teach him a lesson. Unfortunately I found that spell and I was mad enough Weasley that I actually listened to Dan and used it."   
  
"You listened to Dan!" Rebecca said in complete disbelief.   
  
"Yeah, isn't that dumb? I still can't believe that I did it. . I swear no matter how crazy I was I really didn't mean for Cathrine to get hurt, even if I didn't show it afterwards."   
  
"I know. You probably would have earlier if I hadn't have beaten you up."   
  
"Yeah probably."   
  
"What is going on?" Cassie asked. Rebecca dropped her arms from around Ryan's neck and Ryan let go of Rebecca and took a step back as they both turned towards a livid Cassie accompanied by Kirsta and Russel. By the expression Cassie's face not only could Ryan tell that there was no easy way out of the situation, but Rebecca could tell, too. Rebecca gave Ryan a look to let him know that she was going to try something and to go along with her.   
  
"Well, everyone is probably looking for me so I have better get in for lunch," Rebecca started. "Would you tell Cassie my good news for me, cous?"   
  
"Yeah, um no problem," Ryan replied as Rebecca started to walk away. "Hey you want to practice quidditch some time?"   
  
"Um, yeah, that would be fun, but let's wait until after the match, okay?"   
  
"Yeah."   
  
Ryan and Rebecca exchanged smiles as Rebecca walked away.   
  
"What is Rebecca's news?" Cassie asked a little less cross than before.   
  
"She's allowed to come back here for school next year."   
  
"SHE IS!!" Russel exclaimed.   
  
His inability to contain his enthusiasm sent Kirsta into a rage. She stormed off muttering stuff under her breathe.   
  
"What is up with her?" Russel said as he walked the black haired girl walked into the Great Hall.   
  
"Well, I never," Cassie scoffed as she dramatically walked in past the boys and went to find her friend.   
  
"If you didn't know, you weren't suppose to be that happy that Rebecca is coming back," Ryan mockingly said with a little of a smirk on his face.   
  
"Yeah, well laugh it up, Cassie wasn't to happy with how closed you two were until Rebecca used the ever famous cousin save. . I have to admit that you too were really close. ..."   
  
"Yeah, well she was really happy that I was thrilled she was coming back even after everything and we hugged you just walked in at the wrong time," Ryan lied hoping that Russel wouldn't press the subject any more. "Anyways, I don't care what drama Cassie throws at me about this I can get back on her good side any time I want. Rebecca, however, is a different matter, as you know. Anyways, I got back on Rebecca's good side which was my goal for when she returned. . My uncle will be pleased." Ryan absentmindley added.  
  
"Why would your uncle care who your friends with or not?"   
  
"Well, it is sort of complicated, let's just say that my uncle reminded me that Rebecca was as important to my future as Cassie is."   
  
"Okay, let's go get some lunch," Russel responded confused about what his best friend meant. As they started to walk into Great Hall, Russel caught sight of Rebecca with Charlie and the rest of the gang laughing and carrying on like they didn't care in the world. Russel gave out a sigh as he took his seat next to Kirsta, who was still fuming, and an idea hit him.   
  
"Hey mate? When you practice with Carter can I come too?" he whispered over the table.   
  
Ryan shook his head yes, as Kirsta turned towards Russsel and furiously whispered, "I know that wench's last name."   
  
"Don't call her that! . So what? You known her full name. I can call her what ever I want" Russel asked giving her a look like she was crazy.   
  
"So, I don't want to hear that you are going any where near her. She's done something to you."   
  
"She hasn't done anything to me."   
  
"YES, she has and I am going to get her for it."   
  
"Don't you dare," Russel hissed back. "You're making this up in your head. . You're getting as bad as Cassie."  
  
"URGH!" Kirsta got up and stormed out of the room practically running Aaron Wood over as she did so.   
  
"Wonder what was up with her?" Wood said as he took a seat in the middle of his team and the various friends intermixed.   
  
"Who cares?" A.J. harshly stated. Everyone stared at him wondering what made the normally sweet and polite boy use such a tone.   
  
"Okay," Anna slowly started, "we don't care about her, but we would like to know what is up with you."   
  
The red headed sixth year looked around the group and finally settled on Rebecca and seriously said, "Do you remember what you joked with me about that Saturday when you were surrounded by Kirsta and her gang?"  
  
Rebecca thought for a moment and then with a gasp said, "Oh, you mean when I said that I thought Kirsta fancied you?"   
  
"Yeah, well it turns out she really does. Today, she started to tell me this whale of a story that Anna was cheating on me with Calloway."   
  
"WHAT!" Anna slammed her hands on to the table startling everyone at the table.   
  
"Hey no hurting yourself before the match," ordered Aaron half trying to protect her for the match and half trying to make her laugh at his one- track-mind.   
  
"She didn't?" Anna hissed ignoring Aaron.   
  
"Yeah, she did, but I knew it was a lie from the get go," responded A.J. and he took a hold of his girlfriend's hand.   
  
"How did you know?" Rebecca pondered out loud. She couldn't imagine being told that and being able to think clear enough to figure out it was a lie.   
  
"Oh, well seeing how it was coming from a Slytherin was my first clue not to take it seriously, but I wanted proof to shut the brat up so she wouldn't spread it around. She ended up saying that Anna and Calloway have been secretly meeting since Anna and I started going out. All I had to do was say 'since third year?' and when she said yeah, I informed her that if she was going to tell me something like that she needed to know when we started going out."   
  
"You didn't tell her what year?" Sara quickly asked.   
  
"No, I made sure not to. Anyways, she was mad at me and went running to Calloway. I swear she is about as much a drama queen as that Burk girl in Slytherin."   
  
"They're best friends you know," Rebecca mockingly informed them all causing the group to laugh at her Cassie impression.  
  
"Well I don't care whose bloody friend any one is in Slytherin," Aaron started. "Watch your backs team. Slytherin will play at any game to through us off ours. I am sure that this was a plan cooked up by Calloway to devastate you two and make it hard for you to play together. Anyways, I think we are going to have to change up our practice schedule to through them off, okay?" The team shook there heads in agreement. "I switched our practice time from tonight to tomorrow at six a.m."   
  
Anna and Rebecca were both taking a sip of their pumpkin juice when their captain said this causing Anna to do a spit take and Rebecca to strangle for a moment.   
  
"Is there a problem, ladies?" Wood asked annoyed that he got a face full of juice.   
  
"Um, no was just surprised to hear the time. Sorry," Anna quickly said.   
  
"Yeah, I usually don't get up that early on a Saturday unless I am camping," Rebecca added.   
  
"You camp?" James excitedly asked.   
  
"Hmm-hmm," Rebecca answered ready to talk with James more about camping.   
  
Wood could sense the change in conversation so before letting it change he said, "Well, as much as we would like to hear all about camping. I want you all to know we are going to practice tomorrow at 6 so get a good night sleep." 


	22. Allies

Rebecca tried to heed Aaron's advice about the good night's sleep, and go to bed early with the rest of the team. Unfortunately, she wasn't tired enough to fall asleep at first. She picked up her copy of Quidditch through the Ages to look over the moves that she had learned while she was on the team. Around about midnight she finally felt like she could fall asleep.   
  
About 5:30 in the morning, she felt a draft from someone opening her curtains. Rebecca really didn't want to get up, but when the person started tapping on her forehead she decided that she could no longer ignore whoever it was from the team.   
  
"Morning, Carter!" Wood enthusiastically said when Rebecca opened her eyes. "See you down in the locker room."   
  
He left throwing two pieces of clothing in her face. Rebecca grumbled a little and then got out of bed.   
  
When she made it down to the locker room she found that all the team except Aaron was in the same sleep deprived stupor she was in. She took a seat between a yawning Anna and closed eyed Charlie.   
  
As Wood started his pep talk for the morning, Rebecca started to lean into Charlie so that she could possibly sleep a little while the captain told them the same thing that he had told them a hundred times before. She looked around and noticed that the rest of the team had the same idea. Greg and Heath were leaning up against a column while Anna and A.J. were in the same position and Rebecca and Charlie. It appeared that they all might get a good nap in when Aaron said something surprising.   
  
"There is no sense in beating any more strategy into you heads today," the seventh said waking up his entire team. They all stared at him wondering if he went crazy as he continued, "I know we can out maneuver the Slytherin team, but that isn't going to win us the game. It is going to be a long and drawn at game, because as long as we are in the lead and they can't beat us in points Flint will try to throw Charlie off so neither gets the snitch. So what more do we need to win this game?"   
  
Wood looked at his tired team waiting for an answer.   
  
After a moment Rebecca finally muttered, "Stamina?"   
  
"Exactly!" Aaron said with a thousand times the enthusiasm that Rebecca had in giving the answer. "So today, we are going to start our stamina training. Okay everyone get up and take off your practice robes." It took everyone a second to respond to Wood's peculiar order, but they all eventually got up and removed their robes revealing their black wind pants and red tops. Anna and Rebecca had on red thin-strapped tank tops and the guys all had thrown on red muscle shirts before they came down.   
  
"Good you all are wearing the clothes I gave you. It will make this easier to do."   
  
"Umph, like we were going to get up and pick out our own that early when he already did it for us," muttered Heath.   
  
Snickers broke out amongst the other team members as Wood explained, "We are going to do some running today, but not just any type."   
  
"Cross-country?" Anna asked looking horrified. "I hate just running long distances even if the scenery is pretty."   
  
"Nope not cross country and not sprinting either. . Well not purely them anyways."   
  
"Aaron, spit it out already," Charlie said as he started to yawn.   
  
"We are going to play tag, because it will give us the best of both worlds and some fun in with it."   
  
Everyone liked the sound of this so they started to be more awake with the enthusiasm they now felt towards practice.   
  
"Okay, who is it?" Rebecca asked.   
  
"Well, for this round we are going to divide into teams and one will 'hunt' the other. If someone gets tagged they become part of it."   
  
"How are we dividing?" A.J. asked.   
  
"Well I want the keep the people that work together, together so let's have it the chasers against the rest of us, sound good?"   
  
"Are the chasers going to be chasing?" Greg asked for his group.   
  
"No, I think that you guys should be pursued."   
  
Anna, Rebecca, and Greg all looked at each other and then made a mad dash to the door starting the practice. Everyone else waited a few moments for a head start and went after them.   
  
"Run!" Greg exclaimed when the chasers got into the hall.   
  
"Where?" Anna asked as they started down the hall.   
  
"The stairs," Rebecca whispered sure that the other part of their team would be behind them in a matter of seconds.   
  
She led them up the stairs and across the corridor stopping in the in front of the Great Hall.   
  
"Now were?" Rebecca muttered.   
  
"Let's split up an meet up at the fruit painting that goes to the kitchen in fifteen minutes if one of us doesn't show let's assume that who ever it is got caught," Greg said.   
  
"Okay," girls said in unison as they all headed in different directions.   
  
Rebecca ran back down the stairs using the set of stairs that would take her to the potions class room as Anna headed continued on the same level away from stairs they came up and Greg headed up the steps. They all got out of sight just in time.   
  
Rebecca hit the bottom of the steps just as she heard an echo that said, "Which way did they go?"   
  
"Let's split up."   
  
'Oh, I better hurry up and get out of here. Who knows which way they are coming?' Rebecca thought as ran past the potions room.   
  
She was about to another set of steps that would take her back up steps when she heard a set of foot steps coming down them. She quickly ducked behind a suit of armor. She watched to see Aaron and Heath come down the step and get very close to where she was hiding.   
  
'Oh, I am going to get caught if I stay here. I wonder if I could out run them,' Rebecca thought, but her feet wouldn't move to get her out of there.   
  
Luckily, just as the guys were about to step where they would be able to see her, there was a noise come from upstairs. The boys looked at each other and headed back up the steps without ever knowing that they were that near their prey. Rebecca let out a sigh and looked up the steps and headed the opposite direction.   
  
When she got to an intersection of corridors near the potions room she heard some more footsteps coming at her. She quickly turned into the other hallway. When she looked around she saw A.J. dashing past.   
  
Rebecca cautiously started to go back down the hall she was in keeping her eyes down at the intersection so that if A.J. decided to double back she could get a head start.   
  
Rebecca felt that she was at the point where she needed to start to figure out how to get to the meeting point. She turned around so she could decide the best route to get there and saw that she was about two inches from running into two people.   
  
"OH!" she gasped as she jumped backwards before she realized that it was just Ryan and Russel. Rebecca quickly regained her composure and explained, "oh, sorry, I thought that you were one of the guys."   
  
"What is going on?" Ryan asked looking at his childhood friend curiously.   
  
"Oh, we are having practice and I thought you two were some of my team," Rebecca started but then she spotted Charlie coming down the hall behind the guys. "Oh don't let him see me, please!"   
  
Ryan was taken back by Rebecca's sudden whisper and turned around to see what she had seen. Russel turned as well while Rebecca hid behind Ryan hoping Charlie hadn't seen any glimpse of her.   
  
"What are you doing down here, Weasley?" Ryan asked before Charlie could say anything to the two Slytherins.   
  
"Looking for someone. What are you do doing?" Charlie answered as he passed them.   
  
Both Ryan and Russel turned around to look at Charlie while Rebecca moved so that she stayed behind her Slytherin friend.   
  
"Just taking a stroll around before breakfast," Russel coolly said glaring at Charlie as Ryan took a step back and casually leaned up against the wall with his hands behind his back.   
  
Rebecca managed to follow the boy's movements though she almost tripped herself, but she managed to stay up right. At first she didn't know why Ryan had moved but then she realized that there was a corridor there that she could go down.   
  
Before she could start down the corridor she heard Charlie sarcastically said, "Good for you."   
  
Russel who couldn't resist the urge to push Charlie's buttons, so he asked, "So did Rebecca finally figure out that you were loser and she left you in the middle of the night?"   
  
Rebecca about lunged at Russel for that comment, but Ryan managed to keep her behind him as he said, "Mate, Rebecca's angry is only going to flare when she hears that you made that comment."   
  
"Sorry," Russel grumbled looking at Rebecca staring at him from behind Ryan. Rebecca decided that she had heard enough squeezed Ryan's hand to tell him thanks and headed down the new corridor.   
  
"Okay, why don't you two save it for the field," Rebecca heard Ryan say as she ran down the new hallway making her think, 'They were just glaring at each other.'   
  
After a moment she found herself near the fruit painting. She could see Greg had just gotten there and Anna was coming from the opposite direction as she was. They all saw each other and the girls picked up their pace to get to Greg. Suddenly, they heard the voices of their other team members.   
  
"He went this way," Heath called.   
  
"Come on let's get him. Bout time you showed up again, Weasley," Dark shouted.   
  
"I was looking for the girls. . I wonder if the girls are in front of him," Charlie answered.   
  
"I think they separated, but let's get Bell first," ordered Wood.   
  
Rebecca and Anna, who were almost to the point where anyone coming down the steps would see them, dove back behind the archways that they had just came through. Greg realized that he was going to be seen no matter what so he stood still for a second longer and when A.J., Aaron, Heath, and Charlie hit a point where he could give them a teasing smile and then dashed into the part of Anna's corridor.   
  
The other guys were so wrapped up in pursuing Greg that they missed Anna pressed up against the wall. After everyone was out of sight Anna came over to Rebecca.   
  
"That was nice of him," she said as they headed back down the hall away from the guys.   
  
"Yeah, we'll have to thank him for taking one for the team later," Rebecca said as they turned a corner into an area that she really had never been.   
  
Soon they were faced with a choice of continuing down the hall or up a set of steps. The girls stopped and looked at each other.   
  
"Which way?" Anna asked as she caught her breathe.   
  
"I don't know. Where do you think Greg is?" Rebecca responded looking down the hall and up the stairs well.   
  
The girls had only stood there for a moment resting and weighing their options when they heard something happening behind them.   
  
They both started to move, but somebody wrapped their arm around the girls' waist, securing their arms in the process, and placed their other hand on the girls' mouths so they couldn't scream.   
  
The girls were picked up and turned to see Kirsta staring at them with an amused expression on her face.   
  
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" The black haired girl started as she constrained her laughter. "Two lost little Gryffindors. . Sam, Hans, take them into the common room. I am sure that there is some one that would like a word with these two."   
  
Anna and Rebecca glanced over at each other not sure what Kirsta was alluding to, but the both knew it wasn't good. Both started to struggle with their Slytherin captor. Unfortunately, the guys managed to keep the two chasers restrained while Kirsta said, "pure-blood" to a section of the bare stone wall. The next thing that Rebecca and Anna knew they were thrown on the cold, rough, stone floor of the Slytherin common room.   
  
Rebecca landed first and Anna was thrown on top of her.   
  
"You okay?" Rebecca whispered as the two girls got up.   
  
"Fine. You?" Anna whispered back as she looked to see that Hans and Sam were blocking their way out with Kirsta.   
  
"Fine."   
  
"Well, well, well, what do we have here?" a voice said behind them. Rebecca and Anna glanced at each other, before the turned around to see that Jason Calloway, who was sitting in one of the high back chairs of room, was the one addressing them.   
  
Both girls rolled their eyes and glared at the Slytherin Captain.   
  
"Like we haven't heard that line already," Rebecca muttered causing Anna to snicker slightly.   
  
"So what do we owe the pleasure with ladies?" Calloway creepily asked them.   
  
Rebecca and Anna both were determine to show no fear and continued to stare definitely at him.   
  
"They were standing around the stairs when we found them," Kirsta said.   
  
"Well, isn't that convenient I wanted to talk to that one," Jason said as he got up and stared at Rebecca.   
  
Krista started to laugh as she said, "Well, Rebecca, you don't have your precious Russel to protect you now, so what are you going to do?"   
  
Rebecca looked at her curiously, not noticing how close Calloway was getting.   
  
"Oh, so you are the one that is distracting my seeker. I never thought that Wood would stoop so low as to put distractions on the team."   
  
Calloway looked over at Anna, who nervously looked away. Rebecca took advantage of not being watched and took a couple steps back. The Slytherin captain noticed and started towards Rebecca. She kept backing up until Calloway had her in a corner.   
  
Anna knew that Rebecca was about to pass out so she started towards Calloway as she exclaimed, "Leave her alone!"   
  
"Hans, watch this one," Calloway said as he turned towards the blonde chaser.   
  
Rebecca looked over and saw Hans heading towards her. She wouldn't have said that she was scared by that sight. It was actually the décor of the room that got her worse than even Calloway backing her into a corner.   
  
When Rebecca rolled her eyes at Hans going to watch her, she noticed a sculpture of a snake right next to her head. Rebecca gasped and turned to get way from the statue and hit her head on a shelf that was on her other side.   
  
As Rebecca fell to the ground she heard Kirsta burst to into laughter followed by Calloway, Hans, and Sam. As she slipped in and out of consciousness, she heard the laughter and Anna screaming.   
  
"I can't believe that you forgot ." Ryan said as he and Russel came back into the Slytherin to find Hans picking up an unconscious Rebecca, Kirsta dying from laughter on the floor, and their captain approaching Anna.   
  
"I always did prefer blondes," Calloway said as the Gryffindor chaser backed away from him.   
  
Unfortunately for Anna, she didn't know the layout of the room and tripped over a foot rest causing her to hit her head against the wall behind her.   
  
"What is going on here?" Ryan asked as he looked back and forth between the two Gryffindor chasers.   
  
"Oh," Kirsta innocently said regaining her composure, "Jason was just explaining that those two are distractions."  
  
Hans took a couple of steps with Rebecca and Ryan noticed a pool of blood behind her.   
  
"OH, MY!" Ryan exclaimed as he rushed over and took Rebecca from a reluctant Hans.   
  
"She is bleeding. Russel, check on Spinnet."   
  
Russel rushed over to Anna and tried to rouse her, but with no luck so he called back, "She's out cold."   
  
"Come on let's get them to the hospital wing. . Oh, my uncle is going to kill me for this," muttered Ryan as he examined the gash on Rebecca's forehead.   
  
"Don't!" exclaimed Kirsta as she tried to stop them from leaving the room.   
  
"KIRSTA, SHUT UP!" shouted Russel staring at her furiously. "If we don't get these two to the infirmary, this house is going to be in major trouble, since obviously they weren't here by choice. We'll be lucky if we don't get accused of trying to sabotage the Gryffindor team." Russel turned to Calloway and continued, "Jason, if these two don't wake up we might win the quidditch match by forfeit and you know what rumors are going to go around school if they do."   
  
The two Slytherins walked out with the two cataleptic Gryffindors out of the room leaving Calloway to think about what Russel had said.   
  
"Why did you let them go?" Kirsta blurted out when the door closed.   
  
Calloway glared at her and said, "Didn't you hear him? We were going to have those two hurt and not able to play. That loser Wood would say we were afraid that we couldn't beat them with a fully developed team. If it wasn't that Carter was so good we would probably be hearing it now. I don't care how much you hate that girl and how much you and I really want Dark and Spinnet broken up, I am not going to put up with the rumors that would come from this! NOW DROP THIS UNTIL AFTER THE MATCH! . And Kirsta, if you do anything anyone on the Gryffindor team, I will make you regret it."   
  
Kirsta stared at him, but knew that he was not playing around.   
  
Rebecca and Anna woke up in the infirmary to something hitting the heads. It wasn't hard so it didn't hurt, but it was wet and really annoying. They both opened their eyes simultaneously and saw that there was a cup of water suspended above their heads tilted in such a way that drops of water were falling from it.  
  
"HEY!" Anna grumbled. Just then her cup turned all the way over and poured out the rest of its contents on the blonde's head. Rebecca's was about to do the same, but she managed to stick up her hand and catch the cup before it got too much closer to spilling.   
  
As she brought the glass down out of the air she heard laughter, very familiar laughter.   
  
And then as she looked over to see if it was truly who she thought it was she heard, "Sorry! I guess I am little out of practice."   
  
Rebecca and Anna looked over and saw that Cathrine was sitting up in bed laughing.   
  
"You're up!" they exclaimed as they sat up to get a better look at their former comatose friend.   
  
"Yeah, I am up and from what I got from these two," Cathrine giddily answered as she pointed at Ryan and Russel who were on either side of her bed, "I was out for a while."   
  
"We were beginning to wonder about you two," Ryan said remorsefully looking at Rebecca as if he just realized what Colin had been going through.   
  
"Of course, I had to prove to them that it wasn't the case," Cathrine smarted off.   
  
"Yes you did, Tyson. I swear you will never lose your sense of humor about anything will you," Russel said looking at Cathrine amazed how cheerful she was.   
  
Anna and Rebecca just smiled at each other and started to rearrange their pillows so they could remain sitting up more comfortably.   
  
"Rebecca, Anna, I am so sorry. We didn't know ." Ryan tried to start.   
  
"Ryan," Rebecca weakly interjected stopping causing everyone to look at her. "No one is blaming you." Rebecca then forced her self to add," or Russel. Kirsta started it. She said something about 'my precious' Russel wouldn't be able to protect me from what I deserved. And the way Calloway acted it was obvious that it was a surprise to him when we got thrown into your common room."  
  
Rebecca stopped because Sara ran into the infirmary.   
  
"Oh, there you two are," she huffed trying to catch her breathe. "Everyone is looking for you. Why are you here?"  
  
"Sara," Rebecca started with no intention to answer Sara's question, "look behind you."   
  
Sara skewed her face a little and the turned to see Cathrine sitting up.   
  
"AAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!!" Sara screamed as she ran to give Cathrine a hug. She knocked Ryan out of the way, causing him to flip over the cot behind him, and gave Cathrine a huge hug as she asked, "Does Colin know your up? He'll be so happy to see you! Oh someone has to go find him!"   
  
"I'll go," volunteered Russel as he rushed around the cot and headed out the door.   
  
"I think that I will join him," Ryan said as he gingerly got up from the floor and started out.   
  
"Wonder how long it will take those two to convince Colin that they aren't lying to him," pondered Rebecca.   
  
"We'll find out soon enough won't we?" Anna stated giving Cathrine a smile to let her know that she was really glad to see her fellow chaser up.   
  
"Cathrine! You're up!" Colin exclaimed as he dashed over to his girlfriend's side minutes later.  
  
"Nice to see you, too," Cathrine laughed as Colin gave her a big bear hug and then proceed to give her a million kisses.   
  
"Here I thought Greg was pulling my leg. He told me that he heard that you were up. Charlie and Greg were on their way in, but when they heard your voice they turned around. Charlie went to get Kris and Greg said that James and Jacquelyn would want to come too." Colin quickly said and then gave Cathrine another big kiss.   
  
"Hey! She is up!" Greg exclaimed as he entered the room with James and Jacquelyn.   
  
The three rushed over and gave her a huge hug. Greg then glanced over and saw Anna and Rebecca sitting up in their beds.   
  
"What happened to you two?" he asked.   
  
Both girls looked at each other and were about to start to tell their when Charlie came running in.   
  
"Kris is coming and so is.," he stopped when he looked at that three out of the four chasers were in hospital cots and then saw Russel and Ryan reenter the room.   
  
"What. happened. to. you. two?" Charlie asked clearly trying to control his temper. 'I don't know why but I know that Anna and Rebecca are in those beds because of something involving those two. those two. those two.' Charlie was starting to lose it. He was staring at the two Slytherin and was beginning see red.   
  
Before anyone could answer Charlie's question or Charlie could say anything else, Colin got up, headed towards the two, and started to shout, "WHAT DO YOU TWO THINK YOUR DOING HERE? YOU ARE THE REASON THAT CATHRINE WAS IN A COMA!!!!!"   
  
"Yeah, I know." Ryan tried to say.   
  
"THEN WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"   
  
"I wanted to say that I was."   
  
"GET OUT!"   
  
"But I am sor."   
  
"I SAID GET OUT!"   
  
"Sorry," Ryan blurted out and looked at Russel who jerked his head towards the door.   
  
The two headed out the door as Colin screamed once more, "GET OUT!"   
  
Colin turned back around and was about to head back to Cathrine's side when Madame Pompfrey came in and told him that he couldn't scream in the hospital wing and asked him to leave. Colin was about to start a furious round of protests, but James walked over and calmly put his hand on Colin's shoulfer to lead him out.   
  
"Poor guy," Greg muttered and then he turned towards Anna and Rebecca to say, "So this is where you two ended up? Nice hiding spot I wish I would have thought of it."   
  
"Did you get caught?" the girls asked in unison.   
  
"Yeah, up near the north tower I got cornered, so I had to join them in pursuit of you two. We were all over the castle and then we found you in here. Madame Pompfrey wouldn't let us in, so we all went and got changed and that is when we ran into Colin. So what made you two get in here?"   
  
Anna looked at Rebecca and then said, "Oh, well we sort of had a run in with Kirsta and Calloway."   
  
"Aaron isn't going to be happy about that," Greg stated.   
  
"Neither is A.J.," Anna said.   
  
"You don't think those two will fly off the handle, do you?" Rebecca asked as Charlie took a seat next to her.   
  
"I don't know," Charlie said as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. He then looked at Greg and added, "I guess we better go check on them, before we lose more teammates to suspension."   
  
Charlie gave Rebecca a kiss and started to walk out the door.   
  
"Yeah, mate. We better get Heath too so that we can keep those two in check," Greg said as he followed Charlie out of the room.   
  
"I'd better go to," Sara said as she got up. "I don't know what good I can do if Aaron goes crazy, but I might be able to help."   
  
"Would you check on Colin, too, please?" Cathrine called to Sara who quickly turned around to give her a nod and then continued out of the room.   
  
The three friends were barely out of the room when Kris came rushing into the room to her sisters side.   
  
"You're up!" the third year giddily squealed.   
  
"So I am told," Cathrine responded giving her sister a big hug.   
  
As the two let go of each other the room started to fill with more Ravenclaws. Bill walked in with Lennon.   
  
"Hey there is the smile we all were missing," he said as Cathrine flashed a smile. "I would love to stay and celebrate some more, but I was recruited to keep some people in line I think it has something to do with you two."   
  
Rebecca and Anna could just shake their heads yes as the Head Boy looked at them and then headed out the door.   
  
"They must think telling Aaron and A.J. about what happen really isn't going to go over well," Rebecca whispered to Anna.   
  
Both girls just looked at each other hoping that it wasn't going to be as big of a task as everyone was anticipating.   
  
"I have to go owl mom and dad," Kris happily said and started to follow Bill out as Kurt James and Jenna Moliby walked in hand in hand.   
  
They were then followed by Adam Harker, Audrey Valvadian and Kevin Shea. After telling Cathrine how good it was to see that she was awake, they all looked over and noticed the other two Gryffindor girls.   
  
"What happened to you two?" Lennon asked.   
  
The girls went into their explanation starting with their game of tag for practice and going to when Anna saw Ryan and Russel.   
  
"And those two weren't in on it?" Kurt questioned.   
  
"No, I slipped in and out of consciousness when Ryan was carrying me in here and before I was completely out, I heard Ryan say something about getting us to the hospital wing, so they got us out of there," Rebecca said.   
  
"Yeah, if they hadn't have walked in it would have been a lot worse," Anna stated and then playfully added, "We could have been knocked unconscious. . Wait, we were."   
  
Rebecca looked at her fellow chaser and decided to say, "We could have been tumbled down a set of steps. . Wait that was me a couple of times this year."   
  
"You could have been hit by a bludger," Cathrine soberly added, but in a matter of a second she started to smile and laughed, "No. No, wait that was me."   
  
The whole group started to laugh at the girls who were trying unbelievable hard to make light of the situations they had been in.   
  
The Gryffindors and Ravenclaws sat and talked for a while. Cathrine thanked everyone for the cards that she received while she was sleeping and commented on the flowers Jenna had given her.   
  
"Those are really cool," the Gryffindor said as she examined the daisies.   
  
"Yeah, when I figured out how to do it I knew that you would love them," Jenna explained with a huge content smile.   
  
"You'll have to show me how to do it."   
  
"You mean that you don't already know?" Jenna asked amused. "I would have thought that you would have had it figured out ages ago."   
  
"Well, Colin and I were more interested in getting stuff that would be good for pranks."   
  
"Surprise, surprise," Audrey sarcastically stated.   
  
Kevin started to laugh as he said, "Yeah, you two always did prioritize homework more on how it could help you to develop new pranks then anything else."   
  
"Look who's talking," Cathrine joked looking directly at him. She then soberly asked, "So did the prank wars happen?"   
  
"Um, no," Audrey slowly started. "With you being unconscious, Kevin and I didn't approach Colin about that."   
  
"Rebecca you didn't fill in for me?" Cathrine called across the room.   
  
Rebecca was a bit confused and with a wavering voice said, "I-I'm sorry. . I didn't know about it. . What are the prank wars?"   
  
"Oh, these two," Lennon started pointing at Audrey and Kevin, "and Colin and Cathrine started them to see who were the King and Queen of pranks. How many years ago was that?"   
  
"Oh, probably since first year," Cathrine proudly answered causing Audrey and Kevin to grin.   
  
"Oh, and it is a yearly thing?" Rebecca asked.   
  
"Yep," the three pranksters answered in unison.   
  
"So who won last year?"   
  
"Cathrine and Colin and undefeated," Kurt answered.   
  
"Yep, for four years and running," Cathrine happily added.   
  
"Hey, don't rub it in," Kevin playfully said as Audrey said, "Well, if we had had it this year you might have been saying that a little differently."   
  
"Yeah, well Colin and I were in the middle of planning some of the best pranks that we ever had. . And besides even in my absence you should have still had it. Rebecca could have filled in and you all wouldn't have known what hit you."   
  
"Why do you keep saying that?" Adam asked in his deep voice.   
  
Rebecca was astonished. She knew of Harker because was Kevin's counter part on the Ravenclaw team, but she had never heard the beater say anything to anyone.   
  
"Well you know how the Slytherins' that stayed in our house changed colors?"   
  
"Cathine, don't," Rebecca interrupted.   
  
After what just happened to her and Anna, she really didn't want it to go around the school what she had done. The repercussion might be far more severe. Unfortunately, she hadn't stopped Cathrine soon enough, because everyone was looking at her with the same enlightened expression on their face.   
  
"You did it, then," Anna said amazed.   
  
"Well I came up with it," Rebecca started knowing that everyone wanted the details. "You guys can't tell anyone until after the match, okay?" Everyone shook their heads in agreement. "It came to me after Cathrine said something about some candy that my friend, Stacy, had sent me. Little Miss Prankster over there had some rainbow potion left over so we coated the candy for the Slytherins and passed it out. With everyone getting candy, no one could pin it on us if they didn't see us coat the candy, so we got off scotch free."   
  
An awed hush came over Rebecca's audience until Cathrine proudly said, "See, you would have had a real challenge if Rebecca would have joined the team. It would have been so interesting to see what she would have came up to do with my smiley potion."   
  
"Smiley potion?" Rebecca asked intrigued.   
  
"Yeah, Colin and I had been working on a potion that would make smiley faces appear."   
  
"So, what can you put it in?"   
  
"Well I put it into some dye over Christmas and when I tye-dye a shirt it came out with all these cool smiley faces all over it."   
  
"Cool. Did you try it with ink?" Rebecca asked.   
  
"Yeah. It took a while but what I wrote became smiles and I am not sure how to reverse it."   
  
"Well that would be a calling card now wouldn't?" Audrey commented.   
  
"Yeah, well obviously I didn't have time to figure out how to use the potion in a prank for you guys."   
  
"Why didn't you use the ink?" Jenna questioned. "It would have been good."   
  
"But it changes what you write. One of the agreements of the rules of the prank wars is that we don't mess with someone's school work," explained Cathrine.   
  
"Yeah, Jenna, it's a friendly competition. That's why the Slytherins aren't involved in it," Kevin added.   
  
"Are they the only house that doesn't participate?" Lennon inquired.   
  
"Oh, no, this is an exclusive competition," answered a sarcastic Audrey. "There is no Hufflepuff team either. . Don't get me wrong, we have asked, but no one seemed to be up for the challenge."   
  
"Typical Hufflepuffs," muttered Kurt causing everyone to look at him. "What? We tried to get a scrimmage with them for quidditch and they flat out refused. They don't really care much for unofficial contests."   
  
"Kurt, don't go stereotyping the Hufflepuff," Rebecca said.  
  
"Oh and you don't have stereotypes in the back of your head. I would love to hear what you think of the Slytherins after the scrimmage, this little incident, and I am sure you had some other run in with them."   
  
"Okay so I really haven't had that much 'good' interaction with the Slytherins this year."   
  
"Rebecca?" Cathrine interrupted. "Are you going to try to get back at the Slytherins for everything? I mean you, Anna, and me in here. I think Chelsea was getting some grief from Cicille Navarro before my accident. And don't forget about what Lauren has been through with that Harvey boy."   
  
"Why do I have to get them?"   
  
"Well you know what I mean. Do you have a plan to strike back at them?"   
  
Rebecca looked around the room at the faces of her fellow Gryffindors and her Ravenclaw friends. Anna's expression showed that she wanted to get back at Kirsta and Calloway and that was the deciding factor for Rebecca.   
  
"Um, actually, when you were talking about your smiley potion, something came to mind. I will need help though."   
  
Everyone looked at her in anticipation to hear what her prank was. Rebecca was about to explain when Madame Pompfrey came in to check on everyone.   
  
"Well I am glad to see you're all still up," the healer said as she looked over at Rebecca and Anna. "I think that it is safe to think about releasing you. Are you two feeling okay?"   
  
Both shook their head to tell her yes. Madame Pompfrey quickly examined the girls and released them.   
  
"What about me?" Cathrine asked eager to get out of the hospital too.   
  
"Sorry, Miss Tyson, but I want to keep you in here for a while longer to make sure that there isn't any relapse," Madame Pompfrey said as she left the room again.   
  
Fine," Cathrine grumbled as Anna and Rebecca slowly got out of their cots. Both could not help but feel a little guilty that they were allowed to leave.   
  
Rebecca and Anna walked over to talk about Rebecca's plan.   
  
"First off if you aren't going to help do this you better leave now," Rebecca started when she reached the end of Cathrine's bed. No one made a movement they all seemed resolved to be part of the plan, so Rebecca continued, "okay, then, we are going to take some of Cathrine's smiley potion and put a drop in some of their ink bottles at night when they are all asleep. They."   
  
"Wait," interrupted Lennon. "How are we going to get into their dorms to do that? We don't have the password. I don't even think Bill gets it."   
  
"Well, when we were thrown into their common room so as long as they don't change it, we can get in. We'll have to figure out a way to see if they changed it or not without them knowing it. Anyways, as I was saying we can sneak down there. I know of an invisibility spell that we can use to get through the halls. Unfortunately it may not work on the vials with the potion, but Lennon you can walk around where ever you want with out anyone questioning you, right?"   
  
"Yeah, when I am on rounds," Lennon said intrigued.   
  
"That will be perfect," Rebecca replied almost giddily. "You can hide the potion somewhere close to the Slytherin entrance and then we can get a hold of it and there won't be a lot of potion bottles floating through the air. We can sneak in and then put a drop in to the bottle of ink we can find. We should be able to do it fairly quickly since we can all take two rooms and I am sure Colin will want in on this, so we should be able to get everyone that we want without any problems. And actually we don't have to get every single one of their ink bottle, because the randomness will psyche them out. After all, getting back at them mentally will be ten times sweeter than sending them in here."   
  
"Wow," Lennon and Jenna muttered together.   
  
"Why aren't you in Ravenclaw?" pondered Kevin.   
  
"You thought of all that just sitting over there?" Audrey asked.   
  
"Yeah, I guess," Rebecca said sort of blushing.   
  
"So when are we going to do this?" Kurt asked.   
  
"Well, we will want to know whether the password is changed yet or not, but we'll have to do it some night around 2 am or so when we figure that out," Rebecca said looking at Anna for some support. This was the one part of the plan that she hadn't got completely figured out. "We'll let you know when we have that confirmed and we will probably have another meeting here so it looks like we are all visiting Cathrine instead of plotting anything," Anna finished.   
  
"Sounds good," Kurt said as Madame Pompfrey reentered the room.   
  
"I am sorry but I am going to have to ask that you all leave so Miss Tyson can rest. She isn't quite 100% yet."   
  
The students shook their heads and after saying good bye to Cathrine left the infirmary.   
  
Outside of the Hospital wing Anna and Rebecca finalized contact procedures with their Ravenclaw allies and then started towards the Gryffindor Common Room.   
  
They had just rounded the corner that would take them past the library when they ran into Snape.   
  
"Ladies," the professor greeted them.   
  
"Professor," was the only thing that the girls could reply.   
  
"Miss Carter, I was wondering if I could talk to you about the letter you gave me on Monday."   
  
Rebecca's eyes widened. She had temporarily forgotten about it with everything that happened that day.   
  
"W-why of course," she finally got out when she recovered.   
  
Anna caught sight of Calloway down the hall and decided that this was a perfect time to attempt to find out about the password, so she said, "Well, please, excuse me then. . I'll see you up in the common room." Anna turned towards Rebecca and jerked her head in the direction of the Slytherin captain. Rebecca caught on to what Anna was going at and nodded her head.   
  
Once Anna started to walk away, Snape started, "I think you might like to know what was in the first letter I got from the lawyer's so you understand why I didn't get back to you on this right away."   
  
"If you would, sir," Rebecca said sort of thankful that he was willing to fill her in, but at the same time astonished that he was since she normally didn't get to many explanations about her stipulation tasks until after she completed them.   
  
"Well, I first had to write Mr. Spangler back and tell him that I was willing to do this. And then I had to await him to send me which potion you needed to do." Rebecca nodded calmly though she really wanted to scream at him and ask him to cut to the chase.   
  
"Do you know what potion you have to do?" Snape asked as an excited smile formed on his face.   
  
"N-no?" Rebecca garbled as she thought, 'Why don't you just tell me?' Rebecca was about ready to bust. How she managed to answer as meekly as she did was a complete mystery to her.   
  
"Wolfsbane potion," Snape responded about as giddy as Rebecca imagined the professor would ever show a student. "I know with OWLS coming up and your newfound sport, you are not going to have a lot of free time so I suggest we get started right away so that you have plenty of time to learn the potion and execute it successfully several times."   
  
"How many times?"   
  
"I believe that if you can successfully create this potion three times is a row that you will always be able to do it." Rebecca shook her head in agreement as Snape said, "Now if you have free time Sunday night we can meet and got over the potion and discuss any questions that you might have. I am sure you have read of this potion and have a grasp of the ingredients."   
  
Rebecca's jaw dropped. "Um, . actually sir, I have read about it, but I really don't know what goes in it. Or any of the process that goes into making it."   
  
Snape looked down at her with an astonished expression and sighed, "Very well, we will start from the beginning. . I am sure that it won't take very long to get you up to speed. Shall we meet at 8:00pm tomorrow then?"   
  
"That will be fine sir."   
  
"Very good, I'll see you then."   
  
As Snape walked away, Rebecca let out a sigh as she started back towards the Gryffindor tower and thought, 'Just one more thing that I have to do.'   
  
In side the common room, Rebecca found a huge group of people in the center making a lot of noise. From what she could make out, Greg, Charlie, Bill and Heath were trying to calm down A.J. and Aaron in the middle of the group. She was about to step through the group of younger students that were standing around so to help, but her eye caught sight of Colin sitting by himself just staring out the window.   
  
'This might be the perfect time to approach him about this,' she thought as she headed over to her friend's side.   
  
Rebecca plopped down next to Colin and gave him a sweet smile.   
  
"I know I should have kept my temper. Oh, I can't believe that I got thrown out. I ran into McGonagall on my way out. She said that she had just gotten a message from Madame Pompfrey about Cathrine being up and thought I would want to know. Of course when she found out that I knew and that I get kicked out hospital wing I got scolded. . Sorry I didn't mean to dump it all on you," Colin said glumly.   
  
"It's okay. . I actually wanted to ask for your help on something that might make you feel better," Rebecca slyly said as Anna walked over and took a seat next to her with the same expression.   
  
"What is going through your head?" Colin asked intrigued.   
  
"Well, you want to get back at the ones that sent Cathrine to the infirmary and well let's just say that Anna and I are looking for, oh how should we put it," Rebecca quickly glanced at Anna who gave her a shrug to let her know to proceed, "vengeance for what happened to us."   
  
"You know that sweet innocent tone as you said that is a bit scary," Colin said as eyed the girls. "I know you already have a plan in your head and it got to be ten times worse then turning the Slytherins colors."  
  
Rebecca smiled and slightly blushed. Then she turned to Anna and in a fake remorseful tone said, "Yeah, I guess hitting them where they live is worse, isn't it?"   
  
"What did you mean 'hitting them where they live'?" Colin asked before Anna could say anything.   
  
"Anna and I know the Slytherins password."   
  
"How?"   
  
"We heard it when we were thrown into the common room. We were struggling so hard that they didn't think we could hear them," Anna stated.   
  
"How do you know they won't change it?" Colin asked.  
  
"Well, I heard Calloway and Kirsta discussing how there was no way that we would have gotten it they way we were struggling. So there was no reason for them to tell anyone that we were there. They also said something about changing the password would raise suspicion," answered Anna with a smug look on her face.  
  
"Why did you get that close to Calloway?" Colin questioned with this horror struck expression on his face.   
  
"Well I had to find out without asking around so I was walked up behind them and sort of lurked around the corner. They didn't know I was there," Anna soothingly said.   
  
"Anyways," Rebecca said trying to get the conversation back on track before any one else would walk over and over hear what they were saying, "we know the password. Cathrine gave me the perfect idea for a prank that will drive the Slytherins nuts and they will never know that we were down there."   
  
"What's the idea?" Colin asked intrigued by everything coming out of the two girls mouthes.   
  
"Well, knowing the password would give us an opportunity to set up 'traps' in their place. Unfortunately we can't do that or else someone is going to figure out that Anna and I did it, so we need something a little more subtle, but that will get them ten times worse. Cathrine was talking about you two developing a potion that would make ink change into smiley faces no matter what you wrote."   
  
"You want to put some drops in their ink?" Colin asked. He was torn whether to think his friend was brilliant and daring or just plain crazy.   
  
"Yeah. If we do it while they are sleeping then they won't have a clue how it happened and it will drive them nuts and even if we don't hit every jar of ink they have, they won't trust any of it."   
  
"Are we going to get everyone?"   
  
"Yep."   
  
"Even Ryan and Russel?" Anna asked, because she had a soft spot in her heart for them since they had rescued the two chasers.   
  
"Well, Ryan was the one that put Cathrine in the infirmary," Rebecca slowly started because she was torn about getting her childhood friend too, "so we have to get him. . And Russel, ... Russel has done enough to me that I think... I think that he deserves it."   
  
"Okay, I am in," Anna resolved. She only needed to be reminded that they were getting revenge for more than just what happened to them.   
  
"Um, don't get me wrong. I think it is a brilliant plan, but how are we going to do it with just three of us?" Colin asked. "I mean we are going to have to be fast, so we aren't caught. Also, unless one of you two have an invisibility cloak I don't see how we are going to get past Flinch in the halls..."   
  
Colin faded out when he noticed that Rebecca and Anna just started to smile bigger as he went on. He stopped and looked at them for a moment and then gave them a look that said 'fill me in know, or I am going to prank you instead.'   
  
"We have a team already formed to get everything done," Rebecca simply said.   
  
"Go on," Colin demanded.   
  
"Well, when you got kicked out of the hospital wing you saw all the Ravenclaws coming in with Kris, right?"   
  
"Yeah, there was Jenna, Lennon, Kevin, Kurt, Audrey, ..." Colin trailed off and as if an idea formed into his head, he then turned towards Rebecca and asked, "They're part of the team, aren't they?"   
  
"Yep. It appears that the Slytherins really rubbed them the wrong way, by attacking Charlie and getting Cathrine in the process. And I guess trying to get us two didn't help matters."   
  
"Harker is on it, right?"   
  
"Yeah," Rebecca responded curious on why the strong and silent Ravenclaw was singled out.   
  
"Hmm? I think that you have quite an excellent prank. Might be better than that color changing one."   
  
"Oh, speaking of that. I promised to tell you who did what after the Slytherins left," Rebecca interrupted him and then started to tell him the whole story about the prank.   
  
"Impressive," Colin said when she finished. "Wish I could have been in on that, but it was probably be the best that I wasn't."   
  
"Yeah," Rebecca quietly said. "Well, we are going to have to get everything set up for so let's get started. I want to do this Sunday night."   
  
Anna and Colin nodded and they all started to get up. They turned to see that the group in the center had dissipated alittle, but Charlie, Greg, Heath, and Bill were still trying to restrain Aaron and A.J.   
  
"Guess we better go and calm those two down," Anna mutter to Rebecca.   
  
"I am going to go look for the vials of potion that I have," Colin said as he started towards the stairs and the girls towards the group.   
  
"Rebecca! Anna!" Aaron exclaimed as he noticed them approaching them. "You're out of the infirmary."   
  
"Yep," Rebecca responded as she and Anna walked into the center of the group.   
  
"I am going to get Calloway for this. He realized that we didn't use any of our moves at the scrimmage and still won, so he decided to take out two of our chasers." The fury in Aaron's eyes matched that in the tone of his voice.   
  
"Yeah, he always said that he would beat you sooner or later. This was his last year and he knew he couldn't. He needs to be taught a lesson," A.J. added broodingly.   
  
Rebecca and Anna looked at each other. It was obvious that they were going to have to do some quick talking get the two guys to calm down since the others obviously were only really able to keep them in the room and not breaking things.   
  
"Guys," Rebecca started, "we're okay, so don't do anything stupid. We can't afford to lose you two either."  
  
"A.J. you can send the bludgers directly at him to get back at Calloway and if one 'accidentally' hits Kirsta in the stands, then so be it," Anna said as she walked towards him.   
  
A.J.'s expression softened a little as he wrapped his arms around his girlfriend, because he was content to send the Slytherins to the hospital wing that way. After all there was no way that he could really get in trouble for it.  
  
Rebecca was relieved to see A.J. calm down. Aaron was going to be another matter. The captain was still fuming and seemed to have a backlog of fuel from all the things Calloway had said or done to keep him going for a while.  
  
"Um, Aaron," Rebecca slowly started and then picked up speed. "Why don't you let Anna and me take care of getting back at Calloway outside of the match? You have a lot of motive to get him. He wouldn't have to tell about this new incident if you get caught. If Anna and I were caught, us getting thrown into the Slytherin's common room would come out. We would make sure of it. And Calloway isn't going to want that now is he?"   
  
Wood took a deep breathe and slowly let it out. Rebecca's words mollified the captain and the guys that were trying to keep him inside the common room felt that it was safe to relax a little.   
  
"You're right," grumbled Wood. "What are you two going to do to get back at him?"   
  
"Oh, don't worry about it," Rebecca replied. "We have it under control."   
  
Rebecca started to walk away as did Anna. There was no way that either of them were going to sit there and be badgered about what they had in mind.   
  
They were almost to the stairs when Charlie grabbed Rebecca's hand and stopped her from going any farther.  
  
Anna continued up the stairs hoping that no one would try to stop her as Charlie asked, "Becca, what is going through your head?"   
  
"Well," Rebecca slowly started looking into Charlie's eyes, "I was thinking we need to get our homework done and maybe study a little for O.W.L.s."   
  
"You know what I mean." Charlie's voice was stern.   
  
"I know, but I don't want to get you involved." Rebecca grimaced slightly when she said this, because Charlie might be mad at her for the comment.   
  
"Why not?" Charlie asked in a defensive manner.   
  
"Sorry, but if I do this without you it will throw them off. Everyone thinks that we are joined at the hips. And ." Rebecca trailed off not sure how to phrase the next thing she wanted to say. In fact she wasn't sure what she wanted to say, because she really didn't appreciate tone in Charlie's voice and at the moment, he was treating her like a child, which just plain annoyed her.   
  
"It's okay, Becca," Charlie interjected in a soothing tone since he could tell his girlfriend was starting to get cross with him. "I am sure that you have everything planned out and I won't ask you for the details, but I want you answer one question for me. Did you change the Slytherins color?"   
  
"Yeah, I came up with it," Rebecca softly responded slightly blushing that he caught her.   
  
"I thought so," Charlie whispered. "How about for this mission, I get a part." Rebecca was ready protest when Charlie quickly added, "I'll keep Bill off your back."   
  
Rebecca smiled sweetly at him and the wrapped her arms around his neck as she whispered in his ear, "Thank you."   
  
"No problem," Charlie said after she let go.   
  
Rebecca smiled at him again and he couldn't resist leaning in a giving her a kiss.   
  
'If I could keep her smiling like that all the time, I would be in heaven,' he thought as they finished kissing.   
  
"We better get some studying done."   
  
"Yeah, we better," Rebecca said as she headed up the steps.   
  
Charlie and Rebecca worked on their homework and studied for the rest of the day while Rebecca filled Charlie in with her potion challenge. Charlie could sense that she was nervous about it since she only kept mentioning it every half an hours so he suggested that they strive to finish everything up on Saturday and then she could hit the library all day on Sunday. Rebecca was so happy that Charlie made his suggestion that she gave him a kiss. For some reason with everything that she had on her mind that she was getting to the point that she couldn't think straight. It was nice to have someone to keep her from going crazy.  
  
That night after Charlie and Rebecca finished up everything; she worked on the plans for the prank and sent an owl to Lennon to tell her when the other Ravenclaws should be at the infirmary at 1pm on Sunday for their meeting along with some other information about the prank.  
  
On Sunday, Rebecca woke up early to get the vials of the potion together from Cathrine's trunk and what Colin had and hide them in her book satchel along with a couple copies of the invisibility spell. Around one, Rebecca grabbed her bag and headed out of the common room with Anna and Colin talking casually about visiting with Cathrine and then each going off to do something different. In the infirmary, the three Gryffindors found Cathrine surrounded by the Ravenclaw conspirators.   
  
"Hey everyone, glad to see you all here," Rebecca said in a low hush. "Lennon, here are the vials and some copies of the spell." Rebecca handed the goods to Lennnon who put them in a bag that she had brought. "With the spell, it is abeo in pulvis and you have to say it over and over and concentrate on it for it to work. I tried it this morning and it didn't matter how hard I tried I couldn't get it so that I could hold something and walk and have everything invisible. . Anyways, we'll do it tonight at 2 am and I think when we get around there. I'll tap on the wall to tell everyone can stop with the spell. And you all know where the entrance is now right?"   
  
"Yeah," Lennon answered for the Ravenclaws, "we formed little groups and took a stroll around the castle at different times today to find the place that you described," and then almost as an afterthought, she added, "also, I destroyed your letter so that it couldn't fall into the wrong hands and I am going to make sure Bill doesn't know when I hide these bottles."   
  
"Thank you, that's great. Charlie is suppose to be keeping Bill off my back, but I didn't give him any details so he does know that you're in it or that we are going to do it tonight."   
  
"How is he going to know when to stop if he doesn't know when we did it?"   
  
"I think it would be best if Bill didn't ask questions anytime after we do it so when it seems that Bill isn't going to at all then Charlie can stop. . Any more questions about what we are doing?"   
  
Everyone shook their head no.   
  
"Good. Well, see you all later then." Rebecca said as she closed her book bag.   
  
Everyone said their good byes and slowly trickled out of the room. Anna and Rebecca were the last to leave Colin and Cathrine in the infirmary. Colin was back to his old chipper self with Cathrine awake.   
  
"We'll have to start planning Cathrine's coming home party when we get this done," Rebecca comment when they were outside.   
  
"Yeah, I'll see you later. Good luck at the library," Anna said.   
  
"Thanks!" Rebecca turned and headed towards the library.   
  
Rebecca walked into the library and started towards the potion section. She passed Russel on her way, but she was too focused to notice. Even though Charlie managed to calm her down the prior night, her mind was racing a mile a minute. The only things that she knew about the wolfsbane potion were that wolfsbane was in it and that there were not too many wizards that actually made the potion so it must be difficult. If she didn't find anything more out about it she was going to be a nervous wreck at the meeting with Snape.   
  
As she walked into the aisle that held the potions book she set her bag on the floor and grabbed a random book called 'Experimental Potions of Our Times.' She casually flipped through the index to see if there was any mention of her mystery potion. Rebecca let out a sigh of relief when she saw that the potion was listed. After setting the book next to her bag she picked up another and another doing the same thing. Fifteen minutes later, she had a stack of five books on the floor.   
  
'I guess that is enough for right now,' Rebecca thought as she tried to lift the stack.   
  
Unfortunately, they were all thick heavy books so when she got them off the floor she felt as though she was lifting hundred pounds.   
  
'I don't want to walk and try and find a table with all this,' Rebecca thought as she set the books back down and settled herself on the floor.   
  
"Recent Discovers in Potions," Rebecca mutter reading the first book she picked up. After finding the page she started to read. There wasn't a whole lot in the book so she went to another and another each time getting more and more frustrated, because she didn't feel like she was learning anything new.   
  
After about 45 minutes she decided that it was a waste to spend any more time looking at books so she got up and started to put them back on the shelf. She had just gotten the first book back in it place when Russel walked into the aisle.   
  
"Sorry, just wanted to make sure you were lying on the ground hurt," he said turning back around to walk out, but then he stopped. He looked at Rebecca as she picked up another book and put it away. "Hey, can we talk about the bet?   
  
Russel stood there waiting for her to respond, but Rebecca continued put the books away trying to without saying one word. She was frustrated enough as it was and really didn't want to have a conversation with him about something that was just going to upset her more.   
  
"Why are you so obdurate on the matter?" Russel final blurted out.   
  
"I am not obdurate..." Rebecca said as she whipped around to look at the Slytherin   
  
"Yes, you are," Russel calmly replied. "You are being inflexible and refusing to listen to me. I have to admit that I never thought that you would just flat out ignore me. Yes, I realize I deserve it, but you have never been that type of person."   
  
"I have other things on my mind," Rebecca blurted out. "I have homework, then there are O.W.L.s to get ready for, as well as a quidditch match, and now I have to spend the little free time I have to know how to make some potion that I don't know anything about, so that I can stay here for the rest of my schooling, and. " Rebecca could feel the tears of her frustration start to swell up inside her as she watched Russel's facial expression change to show he was genuinely concerned about her, so she turned to face the book case and started to run her fingers on the books' spines," and. and I don't know if I'll be able to do it."   
  
Rebecca had whispered the last bit, but Russel read her lips. As much he just wanted to take her in his arms and tell her everything would be alright, Russel restrained himself, because that would have got her madder at him.   
  
'She really doubts her abilities. . Oh I hate it when she's not smiling. I have to do something, but what?' Just then it hit Russel. He had the most wonderful idea that would let Rebecca see how much he cared for her and that he was really a nice guy.   
  
"Uh, Rebecca," he started gently putting his hand on her shoulder. "I am sure that you will be able to do the potion. . but I can see you're really worried about it, so why don't you go talk to Charlie about it?"   
  
Rebecca shook her head in agreement. Russel picked up her bag and handed it to her.   
  
"Thank you," Rebecca whispered as she took it from his hands and started to walk away.   
  
"It was nothing," Russel softly replied.   
  
Rebecca was half way out of the library when she stopped all of the sudden.   
  
'I just took advice from Russel!'   
  
The thought horrified her so she rushed the rest of the way out of the library and headed to find Charlie. She didn't have a hard time finding him, since Charlie was sitting in the common room studying with Greg and Sara.   
  
"Hey, Becca! How did your hunt go?" Charlie asked as Rebecca approached them. He hoped that Rebecca being back was a sign that everything went well, but from the look on her face he doubted it.   
  
"Um, not to good. I didn't really learn anything knew other than what the function of the potion was," Rebecca replied as she took a seat. She didn't wait for anyone to respond to what she said. Rebecca just went ahead and gave them details on how she started to get frustrated when she couldn't find any new information and that Russel showed up.   
  
"What did he want?" Charlie interrupted gritting his teeth while doing so.   
  
"First to see if I was conscious and then to talk to me about the bet. I told him no, but somehow he got me to tell how frustrated about the potion and do you know what he did?"   
  
Charlie's jaw was locked and his mind was racing, 'I am going to hunt him done and get him if he did anything improper.'   
  
Rebecca noticed Charlie's dark expression and also so that Greg was anticipating having to stop his friend from doing anything rash while Sara face held a concern look.   
  
Deciding it was best just to say what happened rather than wait for a response, she said, "He said that I could do the potion, but since I was so worried about it that I should go talk to you about it."   
  
Charlie's face assumed a shocked puzzled look as did Greg's and Sara's.   
  
Looking Rebecca right in the eyes, Charlie asked, "Are you serious?"   
  
"Yeah, isn't that weird?"   
  
"Uh-Huh," Greg and Sara responded together.   
  
"I never would have thought those words would have come out of his mouth," muttered Charlie.   
  
"I know I was about out of the library when I realized I took advice from him. I don't care if it was good advice; do you know how scary that is?"   
  
"Creepy," Sara said as a shiver ran down her back.   
  
"I want to know what his angle is," Rebecca commented turning Charlie's book to see what they had been studying before she came in.   
  
"Isn't it obvious? He's trying to get back in your good graces again," stated Charlie his temper starting to flare at the thought.   
  
"I guess so," Rebecca still looking at the book lazily responded trying not to get annoyed at Charlie acting like she was going to fall into another of Russel's web of deceit. "He has to come up with something better than that. Helping get Anna and me to the infirmary didn't change my opinion so why should this."   
  
Charlie was about to responded to Rebecca's comment when she looked up at him and in a playful hurt voice asked, "You're studying potions without me?"   
  
"We were trying to get up to speed with you for O.W.L.s, Potion Mistress," joked Charlie.   
  
"Funny," Rebecca retorted with a smile partly because what Charlie called her was hilarious and partly because she succeed in changing the subject. "Oh, well at least you weren't studying defense without me."   
  
"That would make you mad?"   
  
"How would you feel if I started studying Care of Magical creatures without you?"   
  
Charlie could just shake his head as he chortled a little. She had caught him. It didn't matter what he was doing he would rather be working with magical creature or learning about them and she knew it. Rebecca joined in and started to pull out some of her school books so that she could study with them.   
  
The little group studied until dinner with a few more interruption. After dinner, Rebecca headed upstairs for a nap before her long night started. Charlie thought something was up, but at the same time he knew that she was stressed out about her meeting with Snape and was anticipating it to a very long so he restrained himself from questioning her about this.   
  
Around 7:30 Rebecca got up and had a casual meeting with both Anna and Colin to confirm where they were going to meet and that they had tried out the spell to see if they could do it.   
  
She then told Charlie and everyone else good bye and of course had to add the line, "Don't wait up for me." Whether she was joking or not was a mystery even to Rebecca, because she had no clue how long the meeting would take.   
  
Down in the potions room, Snape was waiting for her, even though she was 15 minutes early.   
  
"Ah, I see that you are ready to go," he said as Rebecca took a seat front and center of the board and started to get out a quill, ink, and several pieces of parchment. "As I am sure you know, wolfsbane is also called monkshood or aconite, which is poisonous," Snape started and continued giving Rebecca more and more details about her task and its ingredients. She wrote fast and furiously to keep up. By the end of the meeting she had went through an entire bottle of ink.   
  
'I'll have to get more at Hogsmeades. . Or maybe I could nick some tonight?' Rebecca thought as she started to pack up. She had to keep herself from laughing at the thought of stealing from the Slytherins.  
  
"Miss Carter I want to show you're the proper way to cut the wolfsbane before we call it a night."   
  
Rebecca shook her head and left her bag where it was to step up to the teacher's table. Snape demonstrated first and then handed the knife over for Rebecca to try. She timidly tried. Rebecca wasn't use to being under such a watchful eye of a teacher.   
  
After the first cut, Snape said, "Very good, now why don't you go ahead and cut the rest then you will have that done for tomorrow night."   
  
"Tomorrow?" Rebecca questioned as she made another cut.   
  
"Yes, you do have time to attempt the potion then don't you?"   
  
"Um," Rebecca thought furiously of what she already had scheduled as she continued to chop the ingredient up. "Around 8 again?"   
  
"Yes, if that works best."   
  
"That will work out best."   
  
"Very well," Snape responded as Professor Sprout entered the room.   
  
"Excuse me Professor," the plump woman started," but I wanted to talk to you about the herbs that you needed."   
  
"Ah, yes, thank you for getting back with me so quickly," Snape said walking towards his colleague.   
  
Rebecca let out a sigh to get herself to relax now that she wasn't under a watchful eye. Her mind was swimming with everything that she had learned that even. As the two teachers talked, Rebecca glanced at her watch. It was about a quarter til midnight.   
  
'Two more hours to go,' Rebecca thought as she finished chopping the wolfsbane.   
  
"Miss Carter, you are free to go," Snape said suddenly startling Rebecca. "Don't worry about cleaning it anything up."   
  
"Y-yes, sir," Rebecca stuttered as she turned around.   
  
She headed straight out of the room there was something about Snape telling her not to clean up that told her that it would be appreciated if she made a quick exit.   
  
Rebecca walked into the common room to find it empty except Charlie who was dozing in one of the chairs close to the fire. She walked over and gave him a kiss to wake Charlie up.   
  
"Hey," she quietly said when Charlie opened his eyes and looked at her. "I thought I said not to wait up for me?" "You did, but I wanted to make sure you go back okay," Charlie responded before he started to yawn.   
  
"You know I could have left you sleeping down here and you would have never known if I got back or not," Rebecca testily said. She was tired and still had one more task to do before calling it a night. With that and being stressed out in general, Rebecca misinterpreted Charlie intention for staying up.   
  
"Yeah, but you didn't," Charlie shot back. "Let's go to bed and you can tell me how your meeting with Snape went down at breakfast."   
  
Charlie headed towards the stairs, but Rebecca remained where she was.   
  
"Are you coming?" Charlie gruffly asked.   
  
Rebecca coolly responded, "In a while."   
  
"Fine, good night Becca."   
  
"Good night, Charlie."   
  
Rebecca sat down on the couch. Going to bed sounded wonderful, but she couldn't afford sleeping some place Anna and Colin couldn't get to her without wake several other people. Rebecca positioned herself so that her fellow pranksters could see that she was there if she fell asleep.   
  
She did fall asleep and was awoken by Colin and Anna. Colin had placed his hand over her mouth so that if she screamed from being startled it would be muffled. Once she saw who it was, Rebecca immediately jumped up off the couch and the three headed out of the room.   
  
As they walked out the door they started repeating over and over in their heads abeo in pulvis so that the Fat Lady didn't see who woke her up. Rebecca became visible for a moment as she stuck a loose stone behind the portrait to keep it slightly ajar so that when they came back they didn't have to give the password. The three Gryffindors cautiously proceeded with their journey so that they didn't make any noise or trip over each other.   
  
Once down by the Slytherin entrance and sure the coast was clear, Rebecca knocked on the wall signaling that everyone could stop the repeating the spell. Colin and Anna automatically became visible with Rebecca. In a matter of moments, Lennon, Jenna, Kurt, Audrey, Kevin, and Adam joined them.   
  
"Okay," Rebecca started, "I am going to give the password and then check to see if their common room is actually empty. If it is then I'll stop using the invisibility spell and we can all proceed in with the bottles. Then we will go into each to the dorm rooms and put the potion in as many ink bottles as we can find. I want us back out here a half an hour after we go in okay."   
  
Everyone shook their heads in agreement.   
  
"Pureblood," Rebecca whispered to the wall. As the wall started to open Rebecca became invisible as did the rest of her cohorts.   
  
Rebecca walked in and looked around quickly no one was there so she stepped back outside and instantly became visible. Lennon walked over and got the box that held the potion from its hiding spot behind a suit of armor out in the hall and lead the rest of the group into the Slytherin's dwelling.   
  
As they started passing out the vials, Harker said, "I found a spell that muffles sounds that I taught my housemates. . Watch."   
  
Adam picked up a book and muttered something and dropped it. Rebecca was taken back partly because there was no thud and partly because she was ready for anyone else to talk, but Adam.   
  
"That's great," she whispered.   
  
Rebecca was going to ask him what he had muttered when Adam said, "I think it would be best if we split up into groups of two or three. The spell works for five minutes at a time so if two people could get in an out of a room fast enough not to have to worry about lapse in the spell."   
  
"Sounds like a plan," Kevin stated as Colin nodded to show his approval.   
  
Rebecca had to admit she like the idea of the spell and if she didn't have to learn it right now that was okay by her.   
  
"Okay, Jenna and Kurt, Audrey and Kevin, Colin go with Lennon. Adam, you're with me and Anna. . Okay let's get going."   
  
Rebecca turned slightly and jumped back because she thought someone was behind her. When she took another look she realized that there was a mirror in the room that she hadn't had time to notice before. Relieved that it was just her image that she saw she turned and lead the group up the steps.  
  
Once up the steps each group positioned them selves to go into different doors. The Ravenclaws muttered the spell Harker had taught them with their wands pointed at their door and then opened the door. The groups then headed in and hunted for the ink bottles.   
  
Each group worked as quickly as possible, but each had little mishaps in their first rooms. Kurt dropped a bottle of the potion, but luckily Jenna had managed to levitate it before it hit the ground and shattered.   
  
Lennon and Colin ran into a bag that was jinxed causing Colin to sprout a goatee. Needless to say Lennon had to fight a fit of giggles as she performed the counter-jinx to it.   
  
Kevin knocked over a bottle of ink that he was trying to put the smiley potion into, but between him and Audrey they managed to get the mess taken care of and still get more bottles of ink to have smiley faces in them.   
  
Adam, Anna, and Rebecca probably had the best luck of all the groups, they didn't have any problems getting the potion into the ink bottles they found, but they were about to exit the first year boys' dorm when Harvey got up out of bed. The three upper classmen hide as fast as they could, hoping he didn't notice the open door to the stairs or see them. Harvey didn't, since he appeared to be sleep walking and was muttering something that was incoherent to the hiders, though the name Lauren came out as clear as a bell.   
  
Rebecca was beginning to wonder how long the boy was going to walk around the room, when Harvey climbed back into bed and seemed to be sound asleep again. The three intruders rushed out of the room.   
  
Out in the hall, they met up with the rest of their crew. They all then moved to the next set of doors, where they were much more efficient, since they worked out their nerves in the first rooms and had a better idea of where to look in the Slytherin rooms.   
  
Personal revenge came out in the second set of rooms, because Colin was in the fifth year male room while Anna and Rebecca were in the seventh year male room.   
  
Lennon found herself with her hands full with getting Colin out of the room with only putting the potion in the ink. The prankster was finding it hard to resist setting some pranks up for Dan and Ryan for what they did to his girl. Over with Anna and Rebecca they relished in the fact that they were getting most of Calloway's ink while Adam went around and hit a couple of bottles from each of the other Slytherins. After the group was done with that set of rooms they met back in the hall and went to the next set of rooms.   
  
There were only two rooms left after that set so they combined their four little groups into two groups. Audrey, Kevin, Jenna, and Kurt formed one group and took the fifth year girls room where Audrey and Jenna savored the fact that they were going to cause Cassie's next dramatic tantrum.   
  
Adam, Anna, Rebecca, Lennon, and Colin went into the sixth year girls' room, where they did the same to Kirsta as they did to Calloway.   
  
When they were all back out in the stair way, Rebecca whispered, "Okay let's get out of here. I am going to make sure we didn't drop anything out here. I'll meet you all out in the hall."   
  
"Okay see you there," Adam said as he and Kevin took the empty vials from her hands and ushered everyone else down the steps. Rebecca looked around quickly and found an eye dropper that probably just slipped out of someone's hand and with Adam's spell no one heard it.   
  
She picked it up and headed down the steps looking for other things. Rebecca made it down the steps without seeing anything else and saw the last of her cohorts leaving the Slytherin common room with all the empty vials. She checked around to make sure nothing was left from the others and was about to head out with the eye dropper when she heard someone coming down the steps. She slipped out of view from the stairs and waited for them to go back to bed.   
  
Rebecca was just standing there waiting when she heard, "Rebecca?"   
  
Rebecca was shocked for a moment until she realized that the Mirror in the room had Russel's image in it.  
  
'If I can see him that means that he can see me,' Rebecca thought as she forced herself to calmly gaze back at the image. She glance to her side to see that Russel was where he could see her if he turned his head in her direction.   
  
"No, Rebecca don't leave, please," Russel pleaded as he took a step closer to mirror.   
  
Rebecca looked back at the mirror and saw that Russel's reflection staring at her.   
  
'He thinks that my image is the real me. Oh, how am I going to get out of this without him really thinking that I was here?' Rebecca thought as her mind frantically raced for a plan. She just couldn't walk out of the room. Yes, her image would disappear, but with the real Rebecca would walk right in front of Russel. The invisibility spell was no good to the eye dropper and leaving it there would end up more catastrophic than Russel catching her.   
  
Rebecca looked behind her. She had a couple of feet and then there was the wall.   
  
'If I walk at the right angle and say the spell at the write time he may not notice the dropper,' Rebecca thought as Russel once again beseeched her to stay.   
  
"I just want to talk to you," Russel cried exasperated as Rebecca turned and walked towards the wall.   
  
From the angle Russel was at it appeared that Rebecca was walking away from him. When she was about to hit the wall, she began the spell. To Russel it looked like she had walked right through the wall.   
  
Rebecca turned around still thinking the spell to see Russel utter a quiet, "No," and walk directly into the mirror.   
  
As he fell backwards to the floor, Rebecca almost started to laugh. How she managed to restrain herself and still keep enough concentration on the spell was beyond Rebecca. Sheer determination to stay invisible was the only answer.   
  
Russel jumped back up and looked around the room bewildered.   
  
"What am I doing down here?" he grumbled as he looked straight through Rebecca into the wall. "Must have been sleep-walking. But why did it feel that I was awake? I couldn't have been though. Rebecca wouldn't have been in this place at this hour."   
  
Russel continued muttering as he trudged back up the stairs. Rebecca waited until she heard the door shut to stop the repeating the spell.   
  
'Well, I'll be. He thinks that I was there because he was hallucinating,' Rebecca laughed to herself as she walked closer to the exit.   
  
Looking behind her once more to see that they really hadn't disturbed things too much she walked out the door.   
  
When Rebecca came out, Adam, Jenna, Kevin, Audrey, Colin, and Lennon appeared before her.   
  
"What happened to you?" Adam asked.   
  
"I almost got caught," Rebecca half-whispered half-laughed.   
  
"What!" Everyone quietly gasped.   
  
"Well I am glad you guys remembered to stay quiet," Rebecca commented as she embarked on the tale of Russel coming down stairs.   
  
"Why aren't you in Ravenclaw?!" Kevin frustrate whispered.   
  
"That's what I call thinking on your feet," commented Adam.  
  
Rebecca stared at the dark haired boy and couldn't stop herself from saying, "When did you become Mr. Chatty?" Harker just shrugged his shoulder.   
  
"What are we going to do with all this?" Jenna asked setting all the vials back into the box where Lennon had hid them.   
  
"Lennon, when are your rounds tomorrow?" Rebecca asked placing the bottle she found in with the others.  
  
"I have one scheduled for right before breakfast so I will have my bag with me to get them," the ravenclaw prefect responded as she placed the box back into its hidding spot   
  
"Good. Okay everyone, thank you for participating and let's get to bed."   
  
A round of good nights ensued and one by one everyone became invisible.   
  
Rebecca, Colin, and Anna entered back into the Gryffindor common room a quarter til 3. If they thought that they would get up and get in bed before anyone noticed, the three would have collapsed on the couch and chairs they were so tired now. But they knew that they wouldn't get up in time, because the energy that they had while they completed their task diminished as they made their way back up to the common room. They slowly headed up to the dorms and climbed into their own beds.   
  
Colin and Anna had put their clothes on top of their pajamas before they went out for the prank so they just had to take off their top layer and they were ready for bed.   
  
Rebecca was a different matter. She hadn't the chance to do what the others did and when she snuck into her dorm she decided it was best to just stay in the clothes she was in so that she could fall right to sleep and also so she didn't wake up Sara or Jacquelyn trying to find her pajamas. Rebecca climbed into bed without even getting under the covers to sleep for a couple of hours. 


	23. Tension

In the morning, Rebecca was a woken by Sara and Jacquelyn who really thought nothing of her being in the same clothes because she had that late meeting with Snape and they didn't know when she had really gotten in.  
  
"Hey sleepy, you going to class?" Sara asked as Rebecca slipped out of her bed.   
  
"Yeah," Rebecca yawned as walked to her closet to throw fresh clothes on.   
  
"How did your meeting go last night?" Sara asked as she gathered up her books for the day.   
  
"My head was spinning after I got done with all my notes on the potion," Rebecca started and then told her about cutting the wolfsbane. As Rebecca finished brushing her hair, she said, "And I have another meeting tonight at eight where I am actually brew the potion."   
  
"Really?"   
  
"Yeah," Rebecca apprehensively responded.   
  
"Nervous?"   
  
"Extremely."   
  
"Well if you need to talk about it you know you can."   
  
"Yeah, thank you."   
  
Sara knew that if Rebecca had not been getting ready for classes she would have said more, but she need to get ready for classes.  
  
"Well, I am going to go down to breakfast. I'll see you there."   
  
"Yeah I'll be down after I get my bag packed." Rebecca went to get her bag ready for the day and realized that it wasn't in its usual place.   
  
'Oh, where is it?' Rebecca thought as she frantically hunted for it.   
  
After a few moments she decided that she couldn't have brought it up with her last night, so she rushed down to the common room to see if it was down there. Charlie was down stairs waiting for her, when Rebecca rushed down the steps and start looking for her bag.   
  
"What ya looking for?" Charlie asked as he watched his girlfriend become more and more concerned.   
  
"My book bag," Rebecca responded in a wavering voice as she thought, 'Did I take that down to the Slytherin's house? No I couldn't have, but if I didn't where is it.'   
  
"Oh, well last time I saw it you had it on your shoulder heading out to that meeting with Snape."   
  
Rebecca stopped for a moment. It all made sense. She didn't bring it back from there.   
  
Rebecca turned quickly and practically ran out of the room as Charlie said, "Speaking of that meeting how did it go?"   
  
She was already out the door.   
  
"I stayed up to ask you that," Charlie muttered and then gave out a sigh as he watched the door shut behind her.  
  
He picked up his bag and headed to breakfast slightly depressed about the events of the prior night and the new morning.   
  
As Charlie took a seat next to Greg, James asked, "Why so glum, chum?"   
  
Greg turned to see that his best mate wearing a very sober expression and instantly asked, "What's the matter?"   
  
Charlie took a deep breathe and slowly let it out before he started, "Rebecca is... She is... I mean, she has got a lot to do and..."   
  
Sara couldn't stand Charlie having such a hard time figuring out what he wanted to say that she tried to say it for him, "Since she was in the Slytherin room, there's something different about her."   
  
"Exactly, I can't tell what she is up to and she won't tell me."   
  
"It's like you two aren't connecting then?" Jacquelyn asked.   
  
"Um, ... YEAH. That's exactly it." Charlie placed his hand ruffly on the table.   
  
Greg and James looked at each other and rolled their eyes. They really didn't want to be listening to that conversation that early in the morning.   
  
"Mate," Greg interjected. "You're forgetting that after she got out of the infirmary she was told of her potion tasks. It's a difficult potion. Rebecca even said so herself. She knows that she has to do it to Snape's standards, which is higher for her than anyone else in our year and maybe even the whole school so that she can stay here. How would you feel about that challenge? I say I would be stressed out. Add in her learning quidditch, studying for O.W.L.s, and homework. I say our dear friend is burning both ends of the candle and is barely able to keep herself in the loop much less get you up to speed with what is going on."  
  
"But..."  
  
"But what? You're the guy that always said that you didn't have time for a girlfriend because you were too busy. Well congratulations buddy, you found a girl that doesn't mind, because she is busy herself. Enjoy it. You know once things settle down Rebecca will be right back beside you and let you know everything that went on. She doesn't hold things back from you once she starts tell you things. You know that."   
  
Charlie looked at James who could only say, "You know he's right. Just be patient. You'll see."   
  
Charlie sighed and looked at the two girls of the group who had suddenly become fascinated with their breakfast. Obviously, they didn't want to be questioned on what they thought if Charlie didn't like what Greg had said.  
  
Charlie let out another deep breathe and said, "You're right. ... Please just keep reminding me of that."  
  
"We will," James and Greg responded together as they watched Charlie start to filling plate.   
  
Anna and Colin came to the table right after the Charlie started eating. They both look tired as they took their seats, Anna beside A.J. and Colin next to her.   
  
"You two didn't sleep well did you?" A.J asked as Anna yawned.   
  
"Just a restless night," Anna fibbed and Colin shook his head to say that they same went for him.   
  
Charlie looked down the table that the two and noticed Rebecca with her bag walking into the Great Hall. She looked exhausted more so than Anna and Colin who were still yawning, but she had this sweet little smile on her face.   
  
Charlie started to grin at the sight until Rebecca turned around and stood there as Adam Harker walked in the door.  
  
He had been holding for Rebecca to walk in and once he entered the two stood and talked for a moment and then walked to their respective tables. Charlie was dumbstruck not by the fact that Rebecca had been talking to someone when she came in, but by who she was talking to. Like Rebecca, Charlie had only on occasion heard Harker talk and so Charlie pegged him as the strong silent type, but from what Charlie could see Rebecca and the Ravenclaw were having a good conversation and Harker was talking just as much as Rebecca was if not more.  
  
Rebecca walked down the table and sat next to Charlie who still had a puzzled look on his face.   
  
"What's the matter?" she asked stuffing her bag under the table and starting to fill her plate.   
  
"When did you start talking with Harker?"   
  
"We ran into each other in the hall," Rebecca said and then in a laugh, "literally."   
  
Rebecca started giggling from the memory. Colin and Anna perked up a little to see if they could catch a hidden meaning in Rebecca's next sentence.   
  
"It was the funniest thing ever," Rebecca continued through her laughter. "I was rushing down to the potion room to get my bag; because I accidentally left it there and I was rounding the corner to get to the stairs Adam was right there. We both hit the floor."  
  
Rebecca laughed harder recalling the events. Colin and Anna were tired enough that they started laughing too; leaving everyone else wondering what is so funny.   
  
"Guess you have to be tired to laugh at it," Jacquelyn whispered to Sara.   
  
Charlie however looked at his girlfriend with a questioning eye and couldn't help but ask, "You met up with him before you made it to the potion room?"   
  
Rebecca instantly stopped laughing and slowly said, "Yeah, why?"   
  
"So he went down to the room with you?"   
  
Charlie was getting a little more intense so Greg faked a cough that sound a lot like "Stress."   
  
"Yeah." Rebecca looked at Charlie not sure what was going through his head.   
  
"Why?"  
  
"Why?" Rebecca gave Charlie an even more confused look.   
  
"Yeah, I want to know why?"   
  
"Because we were talking and I need to get down there and then up here," Rebecca defensively said. "Instead of stopping the conversation he walked with me."   
  
As Charlie and Rebecca silently stared at each other, their friends exchanged looks wondering what was going to happen.   
  
"What were you talking about?" Charlie finally asked after a few minutes.  
  
Rebecca eye about popped out of her head. She couldn't believe he had the nerve to ask that this time for she had talked to plenty of guys that he could have done it before and hadn't.  
  
"Not that it really is any of your business," Rebecca harshly responded. "But we got on the subject of vampires and he was telling me what he knew about vampires' phobia of garlic. It took him a while because I kept asking questions. ... Now excuse me but I promised to see Cathrine this morning, or do you have a problem with that?"   
  
Rebecca didn't wait for an answer. She got up, grabbed her bag, and left the room.   
  
"What is the matter with you?" Greg asked turning towards Charlie. "Mate, she looks dead on her feet and we have practice tonight..."   
  
"And she told us this morning that she had another meeting for her potion challenge tonight at eight," added Sara.   
  
"See she is stressed out and you jumping down her throat because she was talking to a guy, especially a stand up one like Harker, didn't help anything. You know Becca didn't like what you were insinuating. ... She independent and that is what you like about her, right?"   
  
"Yes," Charlie said putting his head in his hands. "I need to go talk to her."   
  
Practically everyone lunged at Charlie to keep him sitting.   
  
"Let Becca have her time. She needs to cool down or else she is going to get you like she got Ryan," Colin whispered to his friend.   
  
Charlie looked at the prankster and mouthed, "Colors."   
  
"Yeah and black eyes. So calm down."   
  
Unfortunately, it was hard for Charlie to keep himself calm. Every time he turned around there was something that irked him with Rebecca's actions towards him.  
  
They had walked up to lunch after Herbology, where they had barely said two words to each other. Lauren came rushing towards Rebecca and frantically thrust a paper into the fifth year's hand while saying that Harvey had given it to her.  
  
Charlie was about to ask what was on the paper, when Rebecca broke out into laughter and rushed to show Colin the paper. It took Colin a moment and then he started to laugh as the two walked in to lunch together leaving Lauren and Charlie in the hall alone wondering what was so funny about the paper.  
  
When the two came into entered into the Great Hall they didn't find Rebecca and Colin at sitting at their table, but standing between the Gryffindor table and the Ravenclaw laughing with Lennon, Jenna, Kurt, Kevin, Audrey, and Adam.   
  
Charlie didn't think anything about this until when he tried to get Rebecca to tell what was so funny she didn't answer, just kept laughing. He tried relentlessly until Rebecca's laughter turned into anger and she was about exploded. Luckily, Charlie managed to stop himself.   
  
When Rebecca got up to go to Defense class she about ran into Harker. The two laughed and started walking to class talking. Charlie got up from his seat and stayed several feet behind the two.   
  
As he exited the room he heard the voice of Ryan say, "It looks like Rebecca might have finally figure out that Weasley is a loser. You might go up and talk to her, mate. She could be trying to find someone new."  
  
"Looks to me like Harker is staking his claim," Russel gloomily responded knowing full well that if he hadn't have done anything to Rebecca he might have been the next in line for dating Rebecca.   
  
Charlie hurried away, because he didn't want to hear about Russel lamenting the horrible stuff he had done to Rebecca.  
  
The rest of the day Charlie stuck closer to Rebecca than he really had. He wasn't about to let any guy especially one like Russel think that Rebecca was looking for another guy while they were still going out. This didn't go over to well with Rebecca who was finding it hard to get everything done that she need to with Charlie constantly being at her elbow.   
  
On Wednesday morning, she was about to explode from this when a brown barn owl dropped a package on her empty plate. Rebecca ripped off the wrapping, mostly because she was trying to take out some of her aggression. She took the top of the box off and looked in side. There were lots of white puzzle pieces and a letter.   
  
"What's that?" Charlie asked curious of all the puzzle pieces.  
  
Rebecca looked at him darkly as she picked up the letter and read it.  
  
"What's going on?" Sara said as she took her seat at the table.  
  
"The lawyer decided that I need something else to do," Rebecca crankily responded.  
  
"What do you have to do?" Sara responded in an appalled tone.   
  
"I have an all white puzzle that I have to put together without magic or anyone else's help." Rebecca let out a sigh.   
  
"When do you have to have it done?"   
  
"Next week. I guess I'll have to work on it this weekend."   
  
"Morning, everyone," Greg said as he joined the group. "Did you guys see that it is a Hogsmeade weekend?"   
  
"It is?" Sara asked excited.   
  
"Yeah, so what are we going to do there this time?" Greg asked addressing the whole group.   
  
When Greg looked at her, Rebecca said, "I won't be going so please don't ask me."   
  
"Why not?"   
  
"I want to catch up with some sleep and also I have this puzzle to work."   
  
"That's cool. So Charlie what do you want to do?"   
  
"I won't be going either," Charlie quietly responded.   
  
"Why not?" Rebecca asked her blood almost boiling.   
  
"I would rather just stay here with you."   
  
"Well, I don't plan on leaving my dorm room so you won't be here with me so you might as well go and stay out of my hair." Rebecca slammed the box top back on and stormed off.   
  
Charlie let out a sigh and shrugged to the rest of his friends. No one knew what to say to comfort him. They all just hoped that it would blow all over by then end of the week when Rebecca would be able to catch up on some sleep.   
  
Everything did seem to be calming down between Rebecca and Charlie when Saturday rolled around. Charlie and Rebecca were able to get through short conversations without a row occurring, but much longer and one of the two if not both were upset.   
  
On Saturday, Charlie reluctantly left for Hogsmeade with the rest of his group. The girls assured him that Rebecca was still asleep unaware that Rebecca hadn't really slept all night and was sitting in her bed with the curtains pulled working on the white puzzle.   
  
About an hour after group left, Rebecca moved down to the Great Hall because she didn't have enough room on her puzzle. She set out the pieces that she had already gotten together and started working on some other.   
  
It wasn't long before a deep voice said, "That has got to be tough."   
  
Rebecca looked up to see Harker standing on the other side of the table looking at the all white puzzle.   
  
"Oh, it is," Rebecca laughed as she somehow magically (figuratively not literally) found two more edge pieces that fit together.   
  
"Need help?"   
  
"I can't have any, but thanks for the offer." Rebecca got another set of piece that fit. "You can sit and talk with me. I am having better luck talking with you."   
  
"Sure, why not? It beats studying for O.W.L.s," Adam said as he took as seat. "So why can't you have help with this?"   
  
"Um, I got it from the lawyer's and I was told I couldn't have any," Rebecca started and saw that Adam was confused by what she said so she elaborated explaining a little about the lawyer and the will with stipulations as she got a few more pieces of the puzzle together.   
  
"Oh," Adam said at the end. "So is that the reason you came here from Beauxbatons?"   
  
"Yep."   
  
"So do you keep in touch with anyone from there?"   
  
"Um, yeah, my friend Stacy writes me, but I haven't heard from her in a while, but I think that she's studying for O.W.L.s. Of course, I haven't had time to write her either so it isn't like I can be too upset about it."   
  
"That's cool that you're pen pals now."   
  
"Yeah, Have you ever had a pen pal?"   
  
"Yeah, actually I still have one."   
  
"Really where are they from?"   
  
"Actually she is from Beauxbatons. I think she knew while you were there. She is about 5' 10" with blonde hair and green eyes."  
  
"Kalie?" Rebecca started to smile and the two started talking about Kalie and how Adam knew her.   
  
"We're actually neighbors, but we didn't get along to well so both of us were glad when we went to separate schools. I think it was third year and there was an opportunity to get a pen pal from another school."   
  
"Oh, yeah, I remember that. I think I had someone from Durmstang."   
  
"Yeah, there was several school involved. Well Kalie and I ended up getting each others letter and we didn't use each others name in the letters for a long time. And then that summer I figured out that it was her."   
  
"Oh so it was like a 'Shop around the Corner' situation."   
  
"Yeah," Adam said as Rebecca continued to put her pieces in place. The two continued talking into the afternoon.  
  
Charlie walked into the Great Hall thinking that he had imagined hearing Rebecca's laughter and just wanted to assure himself that it wasn't. He saw Rebecca working on her puzzle smiling at Adam who was of course smiling back. The words that Ryan and Russel had said came straight to his mind. Adam got up unaware that Charlie had come into the room until he was walking away.   
  
"Weasley," Adam said when he passed the Gryffindor.   
  
"Harker," Charlie coolly responded as he walked towards Rebecca.   
  
"Hey! How was Hogsmeade?" Rebecca happily responded as she saw Charlie coming towards her. She had only need to put in a few more pieces of the puzzle and was feeling really good about everything. Rebecca was also excited to tell Charlie about Kalie and Adam. The look on Charlie's face wiped the smile off of Rebecca's face.  
  
"What's the matter?" she whispered concerned about Charlie as he took a seat in front of her. "Did something happen at Hogsmeade?"   
  
"No," Charlie darkly responded. "I thought you weren't going to leave your dorm room today?"   
  
"There wasn't enough room so I moved down here."   
  
Rebecca put the last piece into place and smiled up at him as all the lines in the puzzle disappeared, but she instantly stopped smiling when she noticed Charlie still wore a scowl on his face.   
  
They sat there in silence for a moment and the Charlie in a defensive tone asked, "Why could Adam sit here while you did the puzzle but I had to be sent to Hogsmeade?"   
  
"What do you mean?"   
  
"I mean why couldn't I hang out with you while you did this?"   
  
"Maybe because you have been at my elbow all week and I am starting to find it distracting."   
  
"What's that suppose to mean?"   
  
"It means that right at the moment I am thankful when I don't have to reason with you so that I can off by myself."   
  
Charlie was about to say something he would probably regret, when Greg walked in with Sara.   
  
"Hey, you two!" Greg cheerful said.   
  
Sensing that the couple was in another row, Sara looked for something that would distract the two from what they were fighting about.   
  
"Rebecca you got the puzzle down!" squealed Sara happy for her friend to have the difficult puzzle done.   
  
"Yeah, at least that is one thing down," Rebecca responded getting up from the table and walking out with the white board that was her puzzle.   
  
Charlie was about to get up and follow her, when Greg put his hand on his friend's should and looked at Sara who instantly turned and left the room.   
  
"Okay Sara is going to calm Becca down and I am going to get you calmed down," Greg started as Charlie brooded slightly. He then went into another speech about Rebecca being stressed out and everything else he had been saying for the past week.   
  
After about a half an hour Sara came back and nodded to signal that she had calmed down Rebecca at Greg who nodded back to let her know that he had done the same with Charlie.   
  
Sara and Greg thought that they had the two calmed down enough that they would be okay for the rest of the weekend, so they allowed Rebecca and Charlie to be around each other without one of them around. Unfortunately they were wrong.   
  
Rebecca walked out of the Great Hall after breakfast on Sunday planning to go to the library by herself, but Charlie was most insistent that he go with her.   
  
"Charlie you don't need to go," Rebecca said for about the third time.   
  
"But I want to go," Charlie insisted.   
  
"Well I don't want you to go," Rebecca hissed exasperated.   
  
"Why not?"   
  
"I just need some time by myself."   
  
"Are you sure you don't want to just spend time with your new boyfriend?"   
  
Rebecca's jaw dropped and she could feel the tears getting ready to start, "You think I am cheating on you?!"   
  
"Well, it isn't like we are spending any time together and you're always around Harker."   
  
"Charlie, you have been following me around all week. I can barely get away from you. I am not cheating on you so please, give me a break. ... I feel like I am getting smothered here," Rebecca said tears welling up in her eyes.   
  
Charlie's jaw dropped this time. He had nothing to respond to that comment.   
  
Rebecca looked at him in the eyes and then walked up the steps as Charlie sat down on the steps knowing that she was technically right. He was sort of smothering her.   
  
Charlie sat there for a moment wondering why he was being so smothering to Rebecca. He had never had a problem giving her space before.   
  
'She always came back when she walked away,' Charlie thought. 'I need to get a grip. Rebecca is too straight forward and a caring person that isn't going to hurt me on purpose."   
  
"Weasley, can I talk to you?" a deep voice said breaking Charlie's train of thought.  
  
The Gryffindor looked up to see Harker standing there.  
  
Charlie nodded and Adam continued, "I don't know what exactly is going on with you and Rebecca, but I have noticed that if you see me talking to her, a row usually ensues. Grant it compared to the dramatics of Slytherin's Burk, it isn't noticeable to anyone but the people around you. I just wanted to let you know that if those rows happen because..." Adam didn't want to say it so he trailed off.  
  
Charlie looked at the Ravenclaw and finished the sentence the way he honestly thought it should be, "Because I think you are trying to steal my girlfriend."  
  
"I don't know what happens in your house..."  
  
Charlie cut Adam off and said, "You're half right. I am afraid that Rebecca and I are growing apart, but you are too much of a stand up guy to try to steal her. Though I wouldn't doubt that if the two of us broke up you might consider dating her."  
  
"Actually, I have a girl."  
  
Charlie looked at him stunned. "Who?"  
  
Adam laughed a little and said, "Her name is Kalie and she goes to Beauxbatons."   
  
"So Rebecca knows her then?" Charlie stated looking as though the light bulb just went on in his head. 'Man, I was really off on this situation. Why did I let Malfoy's words get to me so upset?'   
  
"Yeah, they were in different houses, but had a lot of classes and got along really well. Every time a ball would come around Kalie would tell me about this girl that could really dance and that she actually got her to give her and some others lessons. Well, Kalie never said the name so I didn't know that Rebecca was the girl until I got a letter from Kalie saying that their last ball was not as much fun because Rebecca wasn't there to teach the guys to dance. I guess she could get anyone to dance. Anyways, Kalie and I don't get to see each other during the school year, so this summer I wanted to take her out dancing."   
  
"Oh, you want Rebecca to teach you, then?" Charlie was a bit more light- hearted than he was after hearing this.   
  
"Well yeah, but I would be a cad if I just walked up out of the blue and said, 'I date Kalie, please, teach me to dance.' So I set out to become an acquaintance and get to know her better before I did. She's a great girl and she's head over heels for you, but I don't want my pursuing a friendship to get in the way of you two. You're a great couple, probably the best in this school. So, I will stop talking to Rebecca, if you think that it would help stop the rows."   
  
"Mate, it wouldn't help. I have been the one that was being the fool. My paranoia should not get in the way of you two being friends. I am sure you already told Becca everything about Kalie that you just told me."   
  
Adam nodded.   
  
"Well now that we are all on the same page, maybe I can stop instigating rows."   
  
"What?"   
  
"You've noticed how tired Rebecca is right?"   
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well, I keep pushing for answers to things that I shouldn't really care about. I have been smothering her."   
  
"You haven't smothered her."   
  
"Maybe not completely, but she has enough to stress her out without me asking questions. If I would just let her come to me with things then she would have had at least one angle to breathe at."   
  
"You're probably right. ... Is she actually going to play the last match or with Cathrine up is Rebecca going to get more free time?"   
  
"Unfortunately, Cathrine is going to be released early enough to start practicing again for the match. Wood went in and talked to her and she insisted that even if she could get up to speed again she wanted Becca to play at that match. So Becca still has that practice, along with O.W.L.s, homework, and all the stuff she has to do with the will."   
  
"At least she got that puzzle done."   
  
"Yeah, and I think she told Sara that she managed to get a proper potion brewed last time so she only has to do that two more times." Charlie stood there for a moment and then said, "Thanks."   
  
"For what? Telling you about Kalie? I should have done that a while a go when I started noticing..."   
  
"No. Well that and also you helped me get a clearer picture of what Becca is facing right now. I have to go find her."   
  
Charlie walked away in the direction that Rebecca had taken. He tried in the common room first since there wasn't to many other places she could have gone.   
  
As soon as he, walked in the room he found Rebecca. She was sitting on the window ledge with her chin resting on her knees and her arms wrapped around her legs.   
  
Charlie slowly approached her. He couldn't help but notice the tears rolling down her face as she turned to see him coming towards her.   
  
Charlie wrapped his arms around her and gave her a big hug.   
  
"I'm sorry," Charlie whispered. "I don't think I realize how much stress everything is on you. You keep going and going and going. I forgot that you need some times to reenergize by being by yourself."   
  
"Yeah, I am not the Energizer Bunny©, am I?" Rebecca responded with a little laugh. She felt better with Charlie's apology.   
  
Charlie chuckled and then said, "No you're not. I'm also sorry about all the questionings that I put you through lately. I didn't think about what I was doing. I just wanted to know what was going on with you and I wasn't patient enough for you to come to me like you always do."   
  
Rebecca rested her head on Charlie's shoulder and whispered back, "Well, maybe if I would have been less defensive and told you what was going on there wouldn't have been a problem."   
  
"I think Greg said it best. 'Our dear friend is burning both ends of the candle and is barely able to keep herself in the loop much less get you up to speed with what is going on.'"   
  
Rebecca laughed, "Isn't that the truth of it all."   
  
"What do you have tonight?"   
  
"Just studying, for once."   
  
"H-how..." Charlie stopped and said, "Never mind."   
  
"How do I have all of my homework done with all that I have been doing?" Rebecca quietly and sweetly asked sitting up alittle straight so she could look Charlie in the eye. "I have been an insomniac this past week. I couldn't stop my brain when I laid down so I have been staying up until I collapse working on my assignments."   
  
"Oh, you poor thing, no wonder you have been looking so tired," whispered Charlie as he gave squeezed her a little. "Come on let's go and sit by the fire."   
  
Rebecca nodded and was about to hop off the ledge when Charlie just scooped her up.   
  
"Sorry, but I haven't had the chance to do this in a while. You're doing to good of a job dodging Flint."   
  
Rebecca laughed as Charlie sat her on the couch. Charlie sat down beside her and wrapped his arms back around her as she leaned into him.   
  
Rebecca started telling that she had a close run in with Russel in the Slytherin's common room. She couldn't help herself she ended up telling Charlie all about the ink tampering and that the paper Lauren gave her was written with it. Charlie listening and asked a few questions but for the most part Rebecca didn't leave anything out so he had nothing to ask.   
  
They sat there cuddling and talking for an hour. Charlie got caught up on Rebecca's life and she drifted off to sleep. As Rebecca caught up on some sleep, Charlie sat there cherishing having Rebecca napping in his arms.   
  
Greg and Sara walked in and saw the two.   
  
"Hey, did you patch things up?" Greg asked as he walked past.   
  
"Yeah, she told me what all was going on with her on her own like everyone said she would," Charlie whispered and the added, "I apologized for being crazy."   
  
"Good," Sara commented as she walked past.   
  
"Thanks you, two."   
  
Sara looked at him strangely and asked, "For what?"   
  
"For being good friends."   
  
Greg grinned and said, "We're just glad things are getting back to normal."   
  
And things were back to normal for the next week. Rebecca caught up on sleep and even though she was still tired she could handle things a lot better. Charlie had told her while they had sat by the fire about what Malfoy had said which ticked her off a little, but she decided to wait to retaliate for the comment for the match, which was just around the corner after all.   
  
"Hey Rebecca! You ready for the match," Ryan said as Rebecca walked past on her way to breakfast.   
  
"Um, Yeah, I think so," Rebecca responded with a warm smile stopping in front of the door to talk some more with her child hood friend.   
  
"Nervous?"   
  
"Of course, it is my first match." Rebecca was half laughing at the obvious answer, but Ryan could tell that she was trying hard to cover her nervousness.   
  
Ryan decided he better act like a real friend and so in a soothing voice he said, "Don't worry we'll take it easy on you."   
  
"Why?" Rebecca questioned looking at her friend curiously. "Were you holding back at the scrimmage?"   
  
"No," Ryan slowly said going slightly pink because he knew that the Gryffindors hadn't used any moves that really told how good Rebecca was at the scrimmage and they still lost. "More because I have noticed that you have been stressed out lately and things don't seem to be going to well with Weasley, so I figured I would let you know that you don't have to worry about bludgers flying at your head. You know one less thing that you have to worry about."   
  
"Well that is a good thing," Rebecca said with a smirk that made Ryan wonder what was going on in her head.  
  
"What's a good thing?" Charlie asked as he walked up to the two.   
  
As Charlie tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, Rebecca sweetly replied, "Ryan just assured me that I wouldn't have any bludgers flying to knock my head off during the match on Saturday."  
  
"Oh, that is a good thing, because I like your head right where it is." Charlie then kissed Rebecca's temple and took her bag off her shoulder as he said, "I'll see you inside."   
  
"Okay," Rebecca said with a smile.   
  
As Charlie walked into the Great Hall, Rebecca turned back to Ryan who was dumbstruck at what he just saw.   
  
"Things have been going a lot better between us," Rebecca explained in a smug sort of way because Ryan had stuck his foot in his mouth when he had responded to her why question.  
  
"What are you still doing with that... that...that."   
  
"That what?" Rebecca sternly asked him.   
  
"That loser," Ryan hissed back at her.   
  
They both shot daggers at each other. Rebecca looked as though she was about to say something, but instead turned and walked away into the Great Hall.  
  
She wasn't about to start to get into a row with him. She had enough of it the week prior.   
  
As she walked away, Ryan, who didn't care if his opinion started a row, yelled at her, "He's changed you. Before Charlie you never walked away from me."   
  
Rebecca turned around and retorted, "Before Charlie, you never noticed me walking away."   
  
"What is that suppose to mean?" Ryan hissed back walking towards her.   
  
"It means that before I was dating Charlie you didn't care if I walked away from you. You're jealous or something for some reason."   
  
"I am not jealous."   
  
"Fine, dear cousin," Rebecca sarcastically said. "You're not jealous; you just don't like the idea that when I walk away from you I still have some one to talk to."   
  
"I don't care if you that you have other friends to talk with that guy isn't good for you. You need to find some one else."   
  
"OH, so is that why you stated to Russel that I was looking for someone new."   
  
"How did you..."   
  
"Listen Ryan I don't care if you think that Charlie and I don't make a good couple, because that is your opinion on a situation that you don't know everything on, but if you ever insinuate that I am cheating on my boyfriend, and mind you it doesn't even have to be Charlie, don't ever expect me to talk to you again."  
  
"What?" Ryan took a step back and looked at her scared, because he knew that it wasn't an idle threat.   
  
"You heard me. You have known me forever and know that I am not that type of person, so if you ever have the audacity to defame my personality by saying that I am looking for someone new while I am still dating someone, don't think that I am going to put up with it."   
  
Rebecca turned and walked away while Ryan tried to grab her arm and make her stay. She was too quick and left without knowing that Ryan had more to say.   
  
As Ryan watched Rebecca walk towards the Gryffindor table Russel walked up behind him.   
  
"What's going on?" Russel asked when he realized that Ryan was staring darkly at the fifth year Gryffindors.  
  
"Did you talk to Rebecca after I said she found out Weasley was a loser?"   
  
"Ha," Russel forced a laugh, "like your cousin would talk to me on pleasant terms. Why?"   
  
"Because she knew that I said she was looking for someone knew."   
  
"How did she know that?"   
  
"Don't know, but she wasn't overly happy about it."   
  
"Well what did you expect you insulted the guy she is dating and she is the type that even if she is mad at him no one else can say something bad about him."   
  
"No, that wasn't it, this time."   
  
"What was it?"   
  
"She said I insulted her personally."   
  
"How?"  
  
"Well the two are still dating and so saying..."   
  
"She thinks that you think that she cheated on that loser," Russel said and then looked at Rebecca, who had this sad little expression on her face that was slowly being erased by her friends sitting with her.   
  
"Yeah," Ryan let out an exasperated sigh.   
  
"Serves you right for getting in trouble for that one," Russel muttered as he continued to stare at Rebecca who was now laughing right along with the rest of her group.   
  
"WHAT?!" Ryan exclaimed shocking Russel and Cassie who had just came through the door with Dan, Hans, Sam, and Kirsta.   
  
Russel was about to explain his comment when Cassie demanded, "What's going on?"   
  
"Ryan got Rebecca mad at him for insinuating that she would cheat on someone."   
  
Cassie gave Ryan a harsh look while Kirsta asked, "How did that come up?"   
  
"When Rebecca and Weasley were in a row Ryan commented to me..."   
  
"Well you don't need to be around her if she is a cheater and Charlie dumped her for it."   
  
Russel took a deep breathe and tired to exhale slowly while counting to ten, but it didn't help.   
  
He found himself shouting at Kirsta, "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET THIS THROUGH YOUR THICK SKULL BUT WE AREN'T DATING AND NEVER WILL. SO DON'T GIVE ME THAT I SHOULDN'T BE AROUND CERTAIN PEOPLE." He then turned to Cassie and in a lower more threatening tone he told her, "And before you go all dramatic, if you even dare try to push me to take her to another ball or anything else I will give you something to be dramatic about."   
  
Russel stormed off and took a seat between Harvey and Marcus so he didn't have to talk to them when they finally sat down.   
  
"Well I never," Kirsta said as she watched Russel get a piece of parchment and some ink from his brother.  
  
"Well it's not like he's your first choice either," Ryan blurted out. Cassie glared at him. "Oh give me a break, if Kirsta had her way, she would be with Dark. She wouldn't care who Russel was with then. And besides, she shouldn't have called Rebecca a cheater, because she's not. I said that she was looking for someone knew thinking that she had broken up with Weasley."   
  
"There still together?" squealed Cassie. Ryan was taken back by his girlfriend's sudden change in moods.   
  
"Yeah," he slowly answered as he looked at her curiously.   
  
"That's great I was so afraid that they might break up will all those little fights they were having."   
  
Cassie took him by the arm and led him to the table followed by Hans, Sam, and Dan as Ryan looked back at the brooding Kirsta.   
  
Slowly Kirsta walked over to the table and took a seat next to Ryan.   
  
"You okay?" Ryan whispered to her.   
  
"Yeah," she soberly said. "You know he's right. If I was with A.J, I wouldn't care who he was with or liked to be with." Ryan didn't know what to say. "I have to tell him how I really feel now." IT was obvious to Ryan that Kirsta was talking about A.J. with that comment.  
  
"Good luck with that." Kirsta could tell Ryan was being sarcastic so she gave him a questioning look causing Ryan to say, "With the match almost neigh the rivalries between the two houses are going to only heighten even more and getting around the Gryffindor team members is going to be near impossible. Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't think that you will be able to talk to him this week."  
  
"Oh, I will just watch me." Kirsta turned back to stare at the back of A.J. more determined than ever to tell her true feeling to A.J.   
  
Kirsta looked for any reason to run into A.J. over the next week, but had no success.   
  
Even when she had classes with the boy, she couldn't get more than two syllables out before either he moved away from her or one of his fellow housemates called him over to them.   
  
In a final act of desperation, she even tried fainting in front of him. A.J. just walked past her allowing her to fall her to the ground hard. No one is quite sure how she managed it, but Kirsta knocked herself out and had to be taken to the infirmary.   
  
Of course, she wasn't the only Slytherin trying to talk to a Gryffindor and failing miserable. Harvey tried to talk to Lauren on several occasions. Finally on the Friday before the meet he cornered her right before lunch.  
  
"Why didn't you respond to my letter?" he asked as he forced her in a corner.   
  
"What letter?" Lauren asked trying to get past him.   
  
"The letter I sent you last Monday."  
  
"I didn't get a letter from anyone. In fact all I got was a piece of paper with a bunch of smiley faces."   
  
"What?" Harvey went white.   
  
"You heard me. It was a bunch of smiley faces. If you don't believe me ask Rebecca I showed it to her. She about died laughing."   
  
"I don't believe you," Harvey hissed.   
  
Lauren stared into the Slytherin's eyes boldly almost daring him to call her a liar. Harvey turned around and saw Rebecca walking past with Charlie.   
  
"Hey Carter," he called out.   
  
Rebecca turned to see Harvey beckoning to her and was about to continue walking until she saw Lauren back into corner. She grabbed Charlie by the arm and led him over to the first years.   
  
"What do you want?" Rebecca asked as she approached Harvey.   
  
Lauren rushed over to Charlie's side as Rebecca took a step away from the two.   
  
"Did Lauren so you a piece of paper with smiley faces all over it?" Harvey asked still as pale as he was when Lauren had told him about it.   
  
Rebecca looked at him and then at Lauren with a confused face.   
  
As she looked back at Harvey she said, "Yeah, why?"   
  
"What?" Harvey started to panic. Rebecca looked at him slightly amused.   
  
"What's going on here?" Russel asked as he approached the group. He had been walking by and was curious why Harvey was talking to Rebecca. Half of him hoped that his question would lead to a conversation with Rebecca even if it was monitored by Charlie.   
  
Rebecca turned to Russel and said, "Your housemate thinks I am a liar."   
  
"I did not!"   
  
Rebecca snickered a little and then said, "But you questioned me when I told you that I did see the piece of paper full of smiley faces."   
  
"Smiley faces?" Russel asked as his face went as white as Harvey's. "I thought we got rid of all of those," he hissed at the first year.   
  
"It was before we got in trouble," Harvey responded.   
  
"You got in trouble?" Rebecca asked struggling to hide her giddiness.   
  
Russel stared at her wondering why she was so interested in them getting in trouble as he explained that the teachers noticed that homework from the Slytherins were all smiley faces and that Snape had noticed when he came into speak to them about it that several first years were flipping through notebooks and several of the pages had smiley faces on it. "We don't know what happened to all of our ink, but we found out that if you hold the paper over a flame that it turns back."   
  
"How did you find that out?"   
  
Russel started to get suspicious of Rebecca's questions but the idea of her actually civilly talking to him and keeping the conversation going herself caused him to over look it.   
  
"Oh, Alannah threw some papers in the fire and when I walked by I noticed that the faces were changing back to words."   
  
"Oh," Rebecca said in a very enlightened way while Charlie smirked, because he knew what she and her other cohorts had done.   
  
"Yeah, well we still got rid of our ink and bought new bottles for everyone last weekend, because it took forever for the ink to change to smiley faces if it was and then changing it back took a while too. The costs of the time and the stress was greater than us just buying new. You know opportunity costs type stuff."   
  
"Uh-huh," Rebecca agreed.   
  
"I did keep a bottle though," Russel sly said.   
  
"Why?" Rebecca looked at him shocked.   
  
"Well you never know when it might come in handy." Russel had an all knowing smile that was a bit on the creepy side.   
  
Charlie had about as much as he could take.   
  
He gentle grabbed Rebecca's hand and said, "We need to get to Lauren to lunch."   
  
Rebecca nodded and was about to leave with him when Russel grabbed her other arm preventing her from leaving.  
  
"What's the matter Weasley? Can't take the little first year into the Great Hall by yourself?" Russel asked trying to push Charlie's buttons.   
  
Charlie glared at the Slytherin and responded, "No, I don't want Rebecca talking to you by herself in case you decide to hex her."   
  
Russel's jaw dropped for a moment and then regained his composure in an instant to say, "Now why would I hex her when I am going to get to go on a date with her."   
  
"Ha," Rebecca responded before Charlie could say anything. As she twisted out of Russel's grip, Rebecca continued, "Like that is going to happen since Charlie is going to get the snitch first."   
  
"That's what you think."   
  
"Charlie has beaten you in years past and he beat you at the scrimmage."   
  
"Barely," Russel said through gritted teeth.   
  
"Still beat you," Rebecca retorted as she walked off with Charlie.   
  
As the three Gryffindors made there way to table, Rebecca noticed that Charlie looked slightly nervous.   
  
"You okay?" she whispered to him when they were taking their seats.   
  
"Um, yeah." lied Charlie.   
  
"Liar."  
  
Charlie looked at her for a moment and finally decided to cave and tell Rebecca that Russel was right when he said barely. "If he sees the snitch before me, I might not be able to get it. He has gotten better since last year. I... I... I might lo..."  
  
"No you're not," Rebecca stopped him. "You still have more talent than Flint. He just has a faster broom to try to make up for the talent that he lacks."  
  
"I don't have the money to get a new broom," Charlie informed her.   
  
"Who said anything about buying? I was thinking about trading."   
  
Charlie gave her a curious look and then quietly asked, "What's your plan?"   
  
"We trade brooms." Charlie gave her a more confused look so she quickly explained, "I know that it sounds funny, but if we trade you will have the fast broom on the field."   
  
"Yeah, but..."   
  
"But what? Your broom is a closer make to Greg's and Anna's so I won't have to hold back so much?"   
  
"You have been holding back?"   
  
"Well... Yeah, I can't just fly as fast as I possible could since they weren't able to keep up with me. Your broom will let me get in sync with them without really thinking about it, which will be good for my nerves. ... Come on. We can try it out at that mini practice Wood called for tonight and if you don't like it we don't have to do it at the match."   
  
Charlie sat there for a moment and finally whispered to her, "I know I figured out why you are in Gryffindor a while ago, but I think I just figure out why it took so long for the sorting hat to announce it." Rebecca gave him a confused look wondering where he was going with the next line. "Ravenclaw was up for the running too." Rebecca blushed slightly as Charlie continued, "I think it is a brilliant plan. I just have on thing to add to it. I think though that we shouldn't switch until right before we go into the air of the opening toss. It might throw the Slytherins off mentally."   
  
Charlie turned his head and smiled at her.  
  
Rebecca smiled back and put her head on his shoulders while she thought, 'Good now hopefully we can pull this off and I get to go scotch free with my ring from the bet.'   
  
After lunch, Rebecca needed to run upstairs to grab a book she had forgotten in the dorm. On her way to Defense class she had a run in with Ryan.  
  
Probably if the two hadn't been mad at each other from their row earlier in the week there wouldn't have been an incident come from the situation, but that was not the case. Ryan was in a foul mood so he instantly picked a fight with Rebecca by saying that if she wasn't a cheater now she would be when she had her date with Russel and then started to walk off without letting her get a word out.   
  
To say Rebecca was livid would be an understatement. She stormed off to class barely able to restrain herself from chasing after him and just decking her childhood best friend.   
  
At the mini practice, Rebecca found herself taking out her aggression by trying to beat Aaron around the hoops when she was in the position to score. While in the locker room at the end of practice Wood congratulated her not only for taking the practice serious unlike most of the member, but also for her excellent broom switching plan.   
  
"I think that it will throw Flint for a loop that he won't know how to recover from," Aaron said as the team changed out of their practice robes. "Now I want everyone to have a good night sleep. None of this staying up late crap that you all like to do on the weekend. I want to see you all down at breakfast. We will need our energy for the match!"   
  
Rebecca smiled as she put her stuff back in her locker and walked out with Charlie and the rest of the team.   
  
They all went and sat in the common room with the rest of their friends. Many students walked up and wished them good luck as they all enjoyed each others company.   
  
Finally under the watchful eye of their captain the headed up to bed. Rebecca laid down in her bed and instantly felt herself drifted off to sleep. Even though she was having no problems getting to sleep, she knew that her nerves wouldn't allow her to stay sleeping for too long. 


	24. Gryffindor vs Slytherin

Rebecca woke up Saturday morning early excited and nervous all together. She made the most of her time by French braiding her hair into pigtails and going through the maneuvers that Wood had been beating into her head. She really hoped that this would help her calm down, but it was all in vain.  
  
Eating breakfast was near impossible. She had so many butterflies in her stomach that she felt that she could throw up in any moment. Wood whispering last minute techniques at her didn't help her nerves.  
  
She was thankful when the team was in the locker room changed and Aaron was giving his pep talk. Rebecca sat there and said to herself that it was just like another scrimmage as she French braided Anna's hair to match her own.  
  
"Well this is it. This is for the cup. Let's go and show them what we really can do!" Aaron exclaimed as he grabbed his broom and walked towards the door.  
  
Everyone got up and took their brooms. Rebecca almost grabbed Charlie's broom since it was been what she had practiced on the night prior.  
  
"Rebecca," Charlie said handing her, her Comet.  
  
"Oh, yeah," Rebecca whispered and gave him a mischievous smile.  
  
The group walked to the entrance of the stadium and waited for Colin to start announcing their names. Rebecca trying not to let her nerves get the best of her stood between Anna and Greg as the Slytherin team took the field.  
  
Once Colin finished with the Slytherin names, he announced, "And now the Gryffindor team!"  
  
There was a huge round of applause. Rebecca was guessing that three- quarters of the student population was cheering for them.  
  
"Captain Aaron Wood." Wood took off from the rest of the team as the crowd cheered.  
  
"Charlie Weasley." Charlie winked and followed Aaron into the air.  
  
"Angel Dark." A.J. left the group and joined the keeper and the seeker.  
  
"Heath Johnson." The beater followed his fellow beater as the applause continued.  
  
"Anna Spinnet." Anna winked at her fellow chasers and mounted her broom as she took off.  
  
"Greg Bell." Greg gave Rebecca a smile and as he left her side he grabbed her broom.  
  
Rebecca chased after him fully knowing what he wanted her to do as Colin announced, "AND INTRODUCING GRYFFINDOR'S NEWEST CHASER, REBECCA CARTER!"  
  
The crowd broke into even louder cheering as Rebecca ran out onto the field with Greg skimming the field with her broom in tow. After a few steps, Rebecca grabbed a hold of her broom as she jumped into the air.  
  
As the broom flew higher in the air, she flipped herself onto the broom and the crowd oohed and aahed just the reaction that Wood wanted. He had huge hopes that if Rebecca came out with a fancy mount that it might throw the Slytherins for a loop and leave them wondering what else she could really do.  
  
The team as a whole made a warm up lap. Rebecca loved it the wind in her hair and the roar of the supportive crowd.  
  
Upon passing the Gryffindor fans, Rebecca caught sight of Cathrine, who had just gotten out of the infirmary that morning, sitting with James, Jacquelyn, and Sara. The injured Chaser was cheering louder than anyone except maybe Sara.  
  
As Rebecca landed with the rest of the team in the center of the pitch, she couldn't help but smile from the sight of Cathrine in the stands. She knew beyond any doubt that Cathrine was happy for her. Anna and Greg caught sight of her smiling and gave her a questioning look.  
  
"Cathrine's in the stands," Rebecca whispered with her hands on top of her broom in front of her face so that no one across from her could read her lips and they started to smile too.  
  
The Slytherin chasers glared at the three Gryffindors wondering what they had up their sleeves that made them smile at each other. They were possible intimidated a little by this and Rebecca's mount.  
  
Madame Hooch joined the teams and started to give out the rules of the games. "Okay, Captains shake hands and mount your brooms."  
  
Wood and Calloway gripped each others hand while glaring at each other. Rebecca and the other team members could tell that the two were out to break the other's hand. After a moment they let go and mounted their brooms.  
  
As the rest of the teams got on their brooms and joined the captains in the air Rebecca turned to Charlie and tossed her broom at Charlie while he tossed his at her. The two immediately joined everyone else in the air.  
  
Rebecca and Charlie took great satisfaction as they took their spots for the opening toss that Russel's jaw had dropped and he looked very pale. He obviously had seen the two stay on the ground a split second longer than the others to exchange brooms. Rebecca's broom being the fastest on the field along with Charlie's talent gave the Gryffindor seeker a huge advantage over the Russel and he knew it.  
  
"Oh, it is going to take a miracle for me to get that snitch now," Russel muttered as the bludgers were let go along with the snitch.  
  
"Okay I want a nice clean game," Madame Hooch called up to them.  
  
Several sarcastic comments came out of the quidditch players mouths as the quaffle was sent into the air.  
  
"Carter won the toss," Colin announced as Rebecca darted into the middle narrowly beating Ryan to the quaffle. "She tosses it down to Spinnet who is free. Bell comes up from behind. Spinnet fakes a toss back and shoots and SCORES!!!!!!!!! TEN POINTS FOR GRYFFINDOR!"  
  
The supporters of the Gryffindor team exploded into cheers. The quick score dishearten the Slytherin Chasers. Rebecca, Greg, and Anna had managed to score faster than they had in the scrimmage and everyone knew that the three were not going to save a single move that they knew. The three started out with their easiest moves changing up everything that they could to through their pursuers off.  
  
After their fourth consecutive score and Colin stating, "Another Goal for Gryffindor. That is 40 to zero Gryffindor!" Calloway shouted to his beaters to take the Gryffindor Chasers out.  
  
Try as they might, Akira and Harrison couldn't stop anyone with the bludgers. A.J. and Heath went after each one and before the balls could get close to their teammate they would send them off towards a Slytherin team member.  
  
Heath hit one that knocked into Toby, the Slytherin's keeper, sending the third year out of the picture for a play that Rebecca scored on. A.J. smacked a bludger that was going for Greg right into Calloway who had the quaffle and dropped it from the collision. Anna caught the quaffle and passed it to Greg who did a quick turn to get headed in the right direction. Calloway stopped in mid air and stared angrily at A.J. who just gave him a look that said 'don't think that we are even just yet' and then sped off to save Rebecca from a bludger that Akira had sent towards her.  
  
Exasperated that Wood's trio was unstoppable and that even when his team got close Wood stopped every shot that the Slytherins managed to get off, Calloway looked at the score board to see Gryffindor get another goal bringing their total over one hundred.  
  
"SEND SOME AT WEASLEY!" Calloway shouted at his beaters he then looked at Russel who was trying his best to keep Charlie from seeing the snitch first. "YOU HAD BETTER GET THAT SNITCH SOON!"  
  
Russel nodded at his captain to let him know that he was on it so they might have a chance to still win and then looked over at Charlie who was scanning the field as he dodged the first of several bludgers sent his way. Heath came up towards Charlie and started to protect him from Harrison's assaults.  
  
The game kept going the Slytherins did manage to get a goal but Rebecca, Anna, and Greg answered it with five more goals giving them a grand total of 160 points to ten.  
  
Charlie finally saw the snitch and set after it to end the game. Russel had seen it too and went after it hoping that his team could get another goal before he got it so that they won. They turned a sharp corner that made Russel ahead of Charlie.  
  
They followed the snitch to the center of the field where Rebecca had slowed down to get under Anna, who was on a steep climb with Ryan and Cicille in pursuit of her, to catch the quaffle that Anna threw down to her. Just as Rebecca caught the quaffle and was about to pick back up her speed when a bludger that Harrison was sending towards Charlie struck the front of the broom Rebecca was riding.  
  
Though it didn't break the broom it did pitch it forward throwing Rebecca off balance. Rebecca tossed the quaffle to Greg who with Anna went down the pitch to score again as Rebecca fell forward and slipped off of Charlie's broom.  
  
The crowd gasped as Rebecca managed to grab a hold of the broom so that she didn't fall fifty feet to the ground. She hung there in the air trying to steady herself and the broom so that she could swing herself back on and continue with game.  
  
As Rebecca attempted to get back on, Charlie looked up to scan for bludgers after him and then also the snitch which disappeared again. He gasped like the crowd and watched hoping that Rebecca didn't fall.  
  
Charlie started up towards her because he had a bad feeling that she was going to need help. Russel took off in a different direction, because he had seen the snitch. Charlie knew it, but something told him that he needed to get to Rebecca as quick as he could.  
  
Before he could even fly ten feet up to her, a stray bludger came from no where and hit the end of the broom causing Rebecca to loose her grip. Rebecca started to scream as she fell and Charlie sped even faster to catch her not sure if he could make it to her in time.  
  
Luckily, Rebecca found herself in Charlie's arms before her life started to flash before her eyes. She gave Charlie a huge hug as he slowly brought them to the ground.  
  
As she let go of Charlie, she saw Russel zooming around the field following something very small.  
  
"Flint sees the snitch!" Rebecca exclaimed remembering about the bet. "Let me off here. You don't have to take me to your broom."  
  
Charlie slowed down to stop, but Rebecca jumped off before he could completely stop. He then took off in an amazing burst of speed. Rebecca turned to where Charlie's broom was lying on the pitch and started to run to get it.  
  
She was about half way there when she heard A.J. shout at her, "DUCK!"  
  
Instinctively she hit the ground not caring that she hit her head on a rock in the field. In fact she really didn't realize that her temple was bleeding, because the bludger crashing into the ground beside her was extremely distracting.  
  
"Rebecca head towards me," A.J. called out to her when he realized she was okay.  
  
As the bludger tried to free itself from the indentation it created, Rebecca got up and started to run towards A.J. who was hovering over the ground about five feet from her. Rebecca mounted the broom with A.J. just as the bludger worked its way loose and started right towards them. A.J. waited before taking off so that he could not the knock the bludger over his head.  
  
They then took off as Rebecca said, "Drop me off closer to Charlie's broom."  
  
"Will do!" A.J. replied as they skimmed over the field.  
  
Rebecca hopped off when the got about ten feet from the broom so that A.J. could get back to his duties. She ran and tried to pick up the broom only to find it lying there in pieces just as the game ended.  
  
"GRYFFINDOR WINS!" Colin and the crowd exploded making it impossible for Rebecca to hear the final score or more importantly who had gotten the snitch.  
  
She turned around to look to see who had landed on the ground, to see Russel standing there with a triumphant look on his face and the snitch in his hand.  
  
Charlie had landed several feet from the Slytherin and had a dark expression on his face. Rebecca rushed past Russel ignoring his comment about it will be nice to have her listen to his side of the story and gave Charlie a big hug causing them both to tumble to the ground.  
  
Charlie hugged her back, but in a mournful manner. "I was right behind him. If I only had another second or so... I am so sorry. I lost the bet."  
  
Charlie looked like he was in agony so Rebecca tried to comfort him by smiling sweetly and saying, "But you chose me over the bet. I don't know about you, but I prefer to have that knowledge and have to spend one horrible night because of it than the other alternative that we would have had."  
  
Charlie faked a smile and gave her a quick kiss as he got up from the ground and then helped her up.  
  
The team headed into the locker room happy that they had won and he quidditch cup was theirs again.  
  
Rebecca couldn't help but smile at everyone. She was part of the winning team and some of the points were from her. Her next letter to Stacy was going to be all about them winning and Charlie catching her, which made her smile even more.  
  
Charlie on the other hand had a grimace on his face. He was feeling torn about the match. It was good that the team won. Obviously, it was a good thing he caught Rebecca. His dilemma on being happy about this stemmed from his feeling that Rebecca's fall was not a mire accident.  
  
He walked out of the locker room before anyone else trying to get things straight in his head. Rebecca quickly finished putting her stuff away and was about to go after Charlie, but Greg stopped her.  
  
"Let me talk to him first," Greg said as he started to walk out the room, but then turned and continued, "Maybe you should go to see Madame Pompfrey about that cut. By the time you are done, Charlie should be okay."  
  
"Okay," Rebecca said as she touched the cut on her forehead. Suddenly, she felt the searing pain that she wasn't aware of during the match.  
  
Rebecca grabbed a towel and headed up out the door. She was about to turn to head to the hospital wing when she noticed someone of the floor.  
  
Rebecca looked closer to see the person was Russel. The Slytherin seeker picked himself off the ground and looked around to see Rebecca staring at him with a raise eyebrow.  
  
"You know that boyfriend of yours needs some anger management," Russel gruffly said.  
  
"And why do you say that?" Rebecca coolly responded.  
  
"He decked me. All I said was that I was having a great day with getting the snitch and a dream date."  
  
Rebecca shook her head and the dashed off to the Gryffindor before hearing Russel say, "So beautiful when will it be?"  
  
Charlie obviously hadn't had a chance to calm down and she didn't care what Greg said, she was going to talk to him now.  
  
Rebecca ran up into the Gryffindor common room and found Greg plopping down into a chair. He looked slightly frustrated.  
  
As she made her way to Greg, she was surrounded by other Gryffindors congratulating her on her performance at the match. It took her a while, but eventually made it to an exasperated Greg who informed Rebecca that Charlie was up in the boy's dorm and didn't want to talk to anyone.  
  
"Did you see Flint on the floor, when you came out?" Greg asked before Rebecca started towards the stairs.  
  
"Yeah, he was getting up. He said that Charlie hit him and I came up here to see what was actually going on, before I went to the infirmary."  
  
"Well Charlie did punch the guy. I came out the door to see it and Charlie storm off."  
  
"I am going to go talk to him."  
  
"Good luck with that," Greg responded as Rebecca started towards the stairs.  
  
She went up to the boy's room and knocked on the door. There was no answer.  
  
"Charlie, do you want to talk about it?" Rebecca said through the door hoping that he would respond to her voice.  
  
"No," Charlie bitterly called back at her.  
  
Rebecca let out a sigh. She didn't know what she could say to make him feel better and then it hit her.  
  
"That's okay," Rebecca replied and then she began to sing:  
  
Cause I am hanging on every word you're saying  
  
Even if you don't wanna speak tonight  
  
That's alright, alright with me  
  
Cause I want nothing more than to sit outside heaven's door  
  
And listen to you breathing  
  
It's where I wanna be, yeah  
  
Where I wanna be  
  
Charlie opened the door and just looked at Rebecca who was leaning against the door frame. He didn't say anything just weakly smiled at her.  
  
"You know I would have died if you hadn't caught me," Rebecca said trying to comfort him. Charlie just shook his head, so Rebecca added with a mischievous smile, "I am glad you decked him in the hall. He has had that coming for a long time."  
  
Charlie smiled more genuinely and wrapped his arms around her as he thought, 'She is right if she would have died and what good would it have been for me to catch the snitch. At least, I got that Flint again.'  
  
He wanted to keep a hold of Rebecca and never let her go especially to go out with a piece of scum like Russel. Rebecca seemed content to be just held for know and he wouldn't have let go except he felt something moist seeping through his shirt. Charlie pulled back and looked to see that Rebecca's forehead had a gash on it he hadn't noticed before.  
  
"Becca," he gasped gently touching her temple about an inch from the start of the cut.  
  
"Oh, yeah, it happened when I dropped to the ground when the bludger went at my head after you dropped me off," Rebecca meekly said as she put her towel back on her forehead.  
  
"The bludgers were still after you when I let you on to the ground!!!!"  
  
Rebecca jumped backwards, because of Charlie's sudden burst. Charlie couldn't help his sudden shout. He felt that it helped solidify his feeling that the bludgers weren't after Rebecca by accident.  
  
She stared at him a moment and calmly reassured thme, "A.J. got it before it hit me, but I hit my head on a rock. I need to go to the hospital wing to get check out."  
  
"Okay, let's go," Charlie responded taking her arm and starting down the steps.  
  
Rebecca didn't move though causing Charlie to turn and give her a questioning look.  
  
"Um, Charlie," Rebecca slowly started. She didn't want to hurt Charlie's feeling, but she really didn't want to deal with another out burst like the one she just experienced. "It is hard to say how long I am going to be in there. You know how Madame Pompfrey is since I have been there so many times. I walk in and pretty much get a full exam. So how about I take myself down there and you stay here and start discussing with Greg how you are going to keep Cathrine from hanging out with us girls while we get her party organized."  
  
"Oh so you are going to have a party for her," Charlie stated intrigued and wondering if he could get some details from Rebecca.  
  
"Yep. It is going to be a huge bash."  
  
Rebecca walked down the steps with Charlie dropping him off with Greg before heading to the infirmary. 


	25. Misunderstandings

Rebecca walked out of the infirmary almost as good as new. Madame Pompfrey had healed the gash on the Gryffindor's forehead, but the headache that Rebecca was suffering from hadn't left so Madame Pompfrey gave her more Muggle medicine for it.  
  
Upon walking out the door Rebecca looked down at the bottle in her hand. She had to admit for all that happened she was extremely glad that all she had to do was take a couple of pills.  
  
She rounded the corner and almost ran into Ryan.  
  
"Hey," Rebecca quietly said. She wasn't sure what the status of their friendship was, but she was hoping that another row wouldn't ensue for she didn't think that she could stand it.  
  
"Rebecca," Ryan said as he took as step towards her. As he wrapped his arms around her he whispered in her ear, "I am so sorry. I don't know what I would have done if you got seriously hurt out there."  
  
Rebecca hugged him back and Ryan continued to whisper, "I am so glad Charlie caught you when he did."  
  
Rebecca jerked back from shock leaving Ryan wondering what was wrong.  
  
"I am sorry. I just never heard you call him Charlie before."  
  
"Oh," Ryan blushed slightly. "Well I guess that shows you how much I care. That one act has pretty much left me indebted to him."  
  
"Why?" Rebecca asked confused on how Ryan saw himself fitting into the whole situation.  
  
"Well I don't know what I would do if you had... had... had died. I mean if he hadn't of caught you, you would have fell 50 ft to the ground and I don't know whether anyone would have thought of a spell fast enough to save you from really getting hurt."  
  
Rebecca smiled at her childhood best friend and said, "Come on let's take a walk."  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, let's go see what we can explore," Rebecca responded taking his arm and leading him towards a section of the castle she hadn't really been in before.  
  
Ryan and Rebecca took off down the corridor and passed and intersection that Dan, Hans, and Same were walking down.  
  
"Can you believe that Weasel deck Russel, even though he was going to let her out of the bet," Dan asked seeing Rebecca with Ryan.  
  
"Yeah, poor guy," Hans said shaking his head. "He was really looking forward to winning that date and now he has to put up with the fact that he didn't win because of his talent, but because Weasley went after Rebecca. There is no way that he would enjoy a date with her if she could throw that in his face every time he turned around. He was willing to let her out of it and he gets a black eye."  
  
"So he is going to go through with it still?" Sam questioned.  
  
"Yeah, he said that he needed something to get back at Weasley for the black eye and he figured the kiss at the end of the date would drive the guy nuts. Too bad he doesn't have have good prospects of actually enjoying the date."  
  
"Why don't we make it so that it is," Dan piped in.  
  
"What?" the two boys asked in unison.  
  
"We get Rebecca mad at Charlie and Russel picks up the pieces. We just need to get Charlie to attack Ryan."  
  
"Why Ryan?" Hans asked.  
  
"Because she won't take it. He is in good with her right now."  
  
"Oh, we'll make Weasley appear to be a bully," Hans commented.  
  
"Yep, we just need to get a good story, perhaps something with the bludgers. Akira and Harrison did a good job at making those bludgers appear to be betwitched they way that they kept going after her."  
  
"Nice plan, but slight problem how do we get something that keeps Russel out of trouble."  
  
"Yeah, Wesaley is going to go after him again," Sam chimed in.  
  
"Oh, come on, we have been around Cassie enough that we should be able to make up a good dramatic story that makes Russel look good. Besides you're forgetting that Russel wasn't in the first bludger bewitching and we really aren't sure that Ryan didn't do it. You saw how upset he was. What ever we say will be very plausible because of all these facts..." Dan continued to talk and eventually Hans and Sam agreed to attempt to foment another row in between Rebecca and Charlie so that Russel can pick up the pieces and actually enjoy his date with Rebecca.  
  
Charlie walked out of the common room worried that something was really wrong with Rebecca. What he didn't know was that Rebecca was out with Ryan trying to give him more time to cool down. She really didn't want to concentrate on what to say to keep him calm while she had a headache. From the little bit that she tried before she went to the infirmary, she could tell that it would only make her head hurt worse and she really didn't want to faint on Charlie. After all it might send him on to a tirade.  
  
Charlie walked down the hall towards the infirmary he almost ran into Harvey, who was recruited by Dan, Hans, and Sam to find Charlie. Harvey ran off to dispense with his duties.  
  
Charlie continued down not thinking about the incident. In fact he was really focused on where he was going until he heard Hans say something about the bludgers at the game.  
  
"You know Ryan sent the bludger at her," Dan said off hand when he was walking across the intersection that Charlie was approaching.  
  
"Yeah, never thought he would be that mad," Hans responded.  
  
"What do you think he will do if Carter ever finds out?" Sam asked.  
  
"Probably deny the whole thing. Of course that isn't the only thing he as done to her," Dan answered.  
  
"What else did he do?"  
  
"Well, he fed ideas to Russel, about how to 'win' her. You know like challenging Weasley with the bet and telling him about her weaknesses."  
  
"Why would he do something like that?"  
  
"Because he was ticked off with her from the get go and her being in a different house just amplified things. I think they were getting to a good point, but then another row and out came the bludger controlling spell," chimed in Hans.  
  
Charlie over heard this and immediately saw red. He had never thought that Ryan would stoop to such a low level to get back at Rebecca. But then again, he was the one that had used it to try to get Charlie, so maybe he did.  
  
In a flash, Charlie went to hunt down Malfoy and get some answers.  
  
"WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?" Charlie shouted when he rounded the corner and found Ryan talking with Rebecca.  
  
"CHARLIE!" screamed Rebecca as she watched Charlie walk right past her and slug Ryan right in the eye.  
  
As Ryan fell to the ground from shock, Rebecca tried to rush to his side, but Charlie would not permit her to.  
  
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?" shouted Rebecca as she finally pushed Charlie out of the way so that she could help Ryan up. "He was just telling me how glad he was that you caught me! And that your pride didn't get in the way of you saving my life!"  
  
"He sent the bludger after you," Charlie replied back glaring at Ryan who had just gotten back to his feet.  
  
Rebecca instantly dropped Ryan's arm and just stared at him.  
  
"I didn't do it," Ryan quickly said knowing that she might actually believe what Charlie said even if it wasn't the truth.  
  
"But you did it before," Rebecca almost whispered.  
  
"But, I didn't..."  
  
"Leave," Rebecca ordered.  
  
She was torn on whether he was actually telling the truth or not. With what had happened to Cathrine when Ryan tried to get Charlie with the bludger and Ryan and her having a row earlier before the match, she just plain didn't know.  
  
Ryan walked off to give her the space that she obviously need.  
  
Rebecca stared as the Slytherin walked away. She was obviously was upset, so Charlie wrapped his arms around her in an attempt to comfort her.  
  
Unfortunately, Charlie's actions did not go over well with Rebecca. She ended up elbowing him hard in the ribs. Charlie dropped his arms from around Rebecca and she tried to walk away from him, but couldn't get too far.  
  
He grabbed her arm and held his ribs as he shouted, "What was that for?!"  
  
"That was for not telling me about the bludger thing before you went off and hit Ryan." Rebecca hissed darkly staring into Charlie's eye.  
  
As she tried to get loose from Charlie's grip, Charlie held Rebecca's arm tighter and said, "WAIT! You are mad at me because I gave the prat what he deserved."  
  
"No I am anger because you decided to take care of it on your own without consulting me about it," Rebecca stopped struggling and gazed at Charlie defiantly. "What did you think that I would let Ryan go without as much as a peep from me?"  
  
"No, but..."  
  
"BUT WHAT? Your ego got in the way? You didn't think that I could take care of myself? NEW FLASH, I was fine before I was dating you."  
  
"And you're not now?" Charlie hissed dropping Rebecca's arm. Rebecca stood silent for a moment, not sure what she wanted to say.  
  
"Well?" Charlie questioned forcing her to answer.  
  
"If you would let me stand up for myself you would know that I am fine," Rebecca started. "But no, you have to barge in acting all macho and treat me like this dainty little girl that can't do anything for herself. You're too proud..."  
  
"I'm too proud?" Charlie cut her off. "Look who's talking. Little Miss..."  
  
"Charlie, Rebecca, what is going on?" James said as he walked around the corner. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.  
  
"Nothing," Rebecca said and turned to leave.  
  
"Don't you dare walk away," Charlie sternly said a walking up to her and grabbing her arm.  
  
CRACK!  
  
Rebecca slapped Charlie right across the face trying to get her arm free from him.  
  
Rebecca gasped. She couldn't believe what she had done. Both Charlie and James stood there in disbelief, as Rebecca started to back away with tears forming in her eyes.  
  
She didn't wait for either of them to start saying anything. She just turned and dashed away.  
  
Rebecca ran up to her dorm room and shut the curtains around her tears streaming down her face. Before she had a chance to bury her head into her pillow, she noticed a letter sitting on it. Quickly, she ripped it open and saw that it was from Stacy. With blurry eyes, Rebecca began to read the letter.  
  
Dear Rebecca,  
  
Hey Girl! How are you? Did you get caught up on sleep? I have been so worried about you, since your last letter. I was sorry to hear you and Charlie had been fighting, but I am glad to hear that you patched everything up. It sounded like you had a full plate with everything. Hopefully, everything is slowing down with the quidditch season coming to an end. Speaking of that, you have to let me know how the match went. I am hoping that this reaches you before it, so that you know that I wish you good luck, but the weather here has been so bad that I don't know whether any owls will be to keen on delivering the message until things blow over. Anyways, I better catch you up with what is going on with me since I haven't written in like forever I found it interesting that you mentioned that you knew Kalie's boyfriend when you did, because the issue came up. Ben and Whitney were starting to pick on her because of they said he was a figment of her imagination when she wouldn't let them read the letters that she had received from him. Kalie wasn't too happy about it, but let's face it, who would be. Well I didn't like what was going on so I stepped in and said that you had mentioned that you knew Adam and he talked about dating Kalie. Ben got mad at me for sticking up for her. I couldn't believe it. Of course things have gotten worse around here since you left and Ben and Sydney got together. Ben picks on people mercilessly and anyone that tries to stand up to him gets black listed, which is where I am at. I was ostracized from our so- called friends, because if they are too chicken to find out what will happen to them if they continued to associate with me. Ty actually broke up with me because of it. Of course I got the last laugh, because I didn't act upset or anything, which I wasn't because I really think he ought to be with Emily and just didn't get around to breaking up with him myself since I have been busy studying for OWLs. Well, he got upset because of my lack of emotion and that off course lead him to start a row that I won. Now, I know that I just painted a bleak picture of my social life, but don't worry. Kalie and I are becoming better friends because of it. I never really got why you liked her so much, but now I totally understand. She is so funny and when she describes herself as weird it cracks me up, because I am starting to see the little quirks that I have to that make me weird to other people. Anyways, I have been having a blast hanging out with her and she introduced me to Kerry. I don't know whether you knew her or not, but she is about 5'1" with shoulder length light blonde hair. Um, on the thin side of life and let me think... OH! You always noticed eyes. She has these deep blue eyes that make her stand out. Anyways, I'll send you a picture to help jog your memory. Kerry is great and has been another life saver to me. She is so cheerful that she as kept me up beat even when Colleen and Gwen were whispering behind my back. Oh well, I don't want to be one of them and hurt people's feeling so I am going to continue hanging out and talking with Kalie and Kerry. Maybe we can get together this summer with you and your other girlfriends and do something. Well I got to get going. GOOD LUCK WITH O.W.L.s!!!!!!!!  
  
Later,  
  
Stacy  
  
Rebecca finished the letter and just stared at it. She couldn't imagine having to make all new friends the way Stacy was. Of course after slapping Charlie, whether on purpose or on accident, there was the possibility she might find herself in the same position.  
  
'Of course, it is what I would deserve it,' Rebecca thought as she reread the part where Stacy announced that she was ostracized. 'Stacy was only sticking up for Kalie and look what happened. That is not right, people shouldn't be punished for helping people stand up to bullies.' Rebecca stopped for a moment. 'Charlie had been trying to help me out when I yelled at him. Of course he did just hull off and slug Ryan so he technically was the bully in it all. But then again, Charlie's anger stemmed from Ryan's supposed involvement with the bludger knocking her off. Of course, Ryan said he didn't do it. But he did get Cathrine when he was trying to get Charlie, so he might have gotten her inadvertently.' Rebecca's head was spinning. She couldn't make sense of anything. 'I got to write Stacy and see what she can make from the situation. Maybe even just putting the words down in writing might help me make sense of it all.'  
  
Rebecca got up and grabbed a couple rolls of parchment and a bottle of ink. She closed her curtains back up and began to write.  
  
Dear Stacy,  
  
Just then Sara, Cathrine, and Jacquelyn entered the room and opened up her curtains.  
  
"Can we talk to you?" Sara somberly asked.  
  
Rebecca knew exactly what they wanted to talk about it.  
  
"Can I get my thoughts straight on it first?"  
  
"You slapped Charlie," Cathrine said giving Rebecca the straightest face she had ever seen on the prankster's face.  
  
"I know," Rebecca started as she felt more tears start to form. She could feel herself start to hyperventilate as she quickly added, "I didn't mean to. It just happened. He had my elbow and as I turned to look at him, I tried to twist may arm to get free and I got him."  
  
"You know he was just trying to protect you, right?" Jacquelyn questioned sort of harshly.  
  
"I know, but..." Rebecca cried frustrated.  
  
"Are you going to apologize to him?" Sara fired at her.  
  
"Probably," Rebecca defensively responded as she picked up her quill, ink, and parchment. "I need..."  
  
"When?" Cathrine demanded before Rebecca could say anything else.  
  
"I don't know," Rebecca jumped off her bed. "I just need some time to get things straight in my head, first!"  
  
She ran out of the room with her writing supplies leaving the other girls in the room shocked about her reaction to their questions.  
  
After a moment the girls headed down the stairs soberly. The girls went and sat next to their boyfriends who were sitting by the fire. Charlie came and plunked into an empty chair with the group looking more upset than he was when the girls first went up to talk to Rebecca.  
  
"What happened up stairs?" he asked soberly staring at the girls as he leaned forward from his chair.  
  
Sara, Jacquelyn, and Cathrine looked at each other and then spilled out everything.  
  
"I shouldn't have asked you to talk to her about it," Charlie mournfully said as he slumped back in the chair and rubbed his face where Rebecca slapped him. "Guys, this is a row between me and Rebecca. Please, don't stop talking to her because of this."  
  
"But Charlie," Jacquelyn started to protest.  
  
"But what? She slapped me, but she hasn't done that before. She won't do it again."  
  
"She said it was an accident," Sara said quietly. Everyone looked at Charlie to see what he would say.  
  
"If she said it was, it probably was."  
  
"Are you going to go after her?" James asked.  
  
"I think we need some time apart to get things before we try to get things resolved."  
  
"Sounds like a good plan," Greg commented.  
  
"Wonder where she ran to?" pondered Colin.  
  
Rebecca ran up to the owlery. She knew there was a desk up there and was hoping that she could get her letter done and everything straight in her head, before any of her friends tried to talk to her again.  
  
Rebecca ran faster trying to out run the thoughts in her head. When she hit the last set of steps to the owlery, she tripped and hit and fell forward on the steps. She managed to catch herself before she completely hit the steps, but her shins and knees still took a beating.  
  
After hobbling up the rest of the stairs she opened the door and limped into the room.  
  
As she headed to the desk, she heard a boy ask, "What happened to you?"  
  
"Tripped on the steps," she answered in a monotone voice not looking up to see who was talking to her.  
  
"Oh, you poor thing."  
  
Rebecca rolled her eyes and started to work on the letter to Stacy telling her friend everything that had happened over the past week from her row with Ryan to the quidditch match, to the bet to the gash on her head to the walk with Ryan to the row with Charlie and then onto the other girls questioning her. She finished the letter with tears in her eyes since she was still as confused as she was before and as she folded the letter she couldn't help but sniffle slightly.  
  
Rebecca tied the letter to one of the school owl that immediately took off. Rebecca stared out the window until the owl was out. She turned to leave and saw Russel standing there.  
  
"You know if you were that shaken up by the bet," Russel started, but stopped because the look Rebecca's face told him that it had nothing to do with him or the bet. "Are you okay?"  
  
Rebecca leaned up against the window jam and looked at Russel's face which had a nice shiner now.  
  
"Did you do anything to provoke Charlie when he hit you?" she asked on most on the verge of tears.  
  
Russel touched his back eye and said, "Well, yeah, I kind of had that goal in mind, but that was before I knew that you had been knocked out of the air. The guy deserves kudos for catching you and ignoring me going after the snitch. I mean no one has ever gotten either of us to put aside our rivalry, not even the teachers that have made the unfortunate mistake of pair us together. Never thought I would see the day where we would have agreed on the same thing."  
  
Rebecca put her hand up to head and looked like she was really in pain.  
  
"Are you okay?" Russel asked more concerned than he was before.  
  
"I just have a headache. It's noth..."  
  
Rebecca paused for a moment and stared at the boy.  
  
The accusing manner in which she did this caused Russel to fidget slightly and said, "I didn't do it."  
  
"But you cursed me before."  
  
"Yes, I know I was horrible and cursed you and sent you to the infirmary. Then I won your trust with a truce and I shattered it by not telling you about the ring and the map. I admit that you have every right not to trust me, but I am telling you the truth and if you think back on all the times I tried the headache spell, I was muttering and I haven't muttered anything now."  
  
Even though she didn't really want to believe him she couldn't help it. After all she had had the headache before she went to the infirmary and really it wasn't any worst at the moment as it was then.  
  
"Your right," Rebecca sniffed.  
  
"Rebecca," Russel said taking a step towards her as she started to cry. "Please talk to me. I know I don't deserve to be privelaged to knowing what is going on in your life, but you need someone to talk to. Please let me be your sounding board, just like I was at Christmas."  
  
All of the sudden Rebecca went sheet white.  
  
"Rebecca!" he cried as he grabbed her from falling.  
  
Russel picked Rebecca up and moved over to the chair by the desk. He sat down and tried to revive her. Rebecca's head was tilted down so he couldn't tell if she was awake.  
  
To tell the truth even though he loved just holding her, he was truly worried about her and just wanted a sign that she was okay, even if she jumped out of his arms. Finally he heard her sniff and felt her shake slightly from her silently cried.  
  
"Do you want to talk about it?" he softly asked. Rebecca remained silent so he decided to try to get her to say something so he said, "You know, you never did answer my question."  
  
"What question?" Rebecca whispered.  
  
Russel was ecstatic that his plan worked so he soothingly asked, "So beautiful when will it be?"  
  
"When will what be?" Rebecca asked trying to get Russel mad at her and leave her alone.  
  
"Our date," Russel said as pleasantly as he could so that she might calm down. "I was thinking about a stroll around Hogsmeade and then maybe a candle light dinner up at..."  
  
Russel stopped mid sentence when he noticed Rebecca was slightly laughing.  
  
"What so funny?" he growled as he dropped his arms to his side.  
  
"You think the date is going to happen this term," laughed Rebecca. "There are OWLs to study for."  
  
"Okay, how about this summer? We'll go to London and have a night out on the town."  
  
"Don't know where I will be this summer."  
  
"Right, well then how about next year, first weekend at Hogsmeade, then?"  
  
"Don't know whether I will be back. I haven't done everything yet."  
  
There was this sad agonizing tone to her voice, almost as if now she didn't see the point to finishing up her tasks. Russel could stand it any more he instantly wrapped his arms around her again.  
  
"Please talk to me. You'll feel better if you do. I know you will," Russel sincerely pleaded with her.  
  
Rebecca let out a sigh and then found herself spilling her guts to him. She went on for a while and repeated somethings over and over. Russel tried his best to give her objective points of view and advice, but it was hard since it had to do with her dealing with Charlie. He found it was best just to let her ramble on by herself after a while. By the end she had gotten everything straight in her head and felt as though she could talk to Charlie in a civil manner now.  
  
Rebecca had kept her head down all the time that she talked. Now she felt as though she need to look Russel in the face and thank him.  
  
She moved her head to look up at him and said, "Thank you for listening..." Rebecca couldn't get the rest out because Russel's had been looking down at her and his lips hit hers when she looked up.  
  
Rebecca almost instantly tried to back out of the kiss, but she was on his lap and couldn't just step back from it. Russel was in heaven and moved his hand to the back of her head to try to keep her there. Rebecca quickly turned away, and jumped out of his hold and ran out the door new tears streaming down his face.  
  
Russel sat there for a moment really happy. He couldn't believe that he had actually gotten to kiss her. Yes it was only for second, but still she had kissed him.  
  
Rebecca ran down the steps towards the Great Hall wanting everything about the day to be a dream. She was willing to actually fall off her broom and not get caught if it meant that the kiss didn't actually happen.  
  
"Rebecca! What's the matter?"  
  
Rebecca looked up to see Lennon and Jenna standing in front of her on the landing. Being a bit startled, Rebecca slipped and fell backwards on the steps causing herself to sit on the stairs.  
  
She just sat there and started to really cry. It wasn't just few tears that just happened to escape it this time. Every tear that her eyes decided to produce was free to flow down her face.  
  
As the two Ravenclaw girls rushed up to try to comfort her and find out what was causing all the tears, but Rebecca's sobs were too overpowering for them to believe she could actually hear anything they said.  
  
The girls finally relented on asking questions and just sat there with the Gryffindor and patted her back. Both were secretly hoping that Rebecca would calm down enough to at least fill them in on what was going on.  
  
"What's the matter, Becca?" Bill asked after rounding the corner and seeing Rebecca sitting on the steps with her head on her knees and Jenna and Lennon trying to console her.  
  
"Don't know," Lennon responded "She came down the steps and had tears running down her face and when we asked her what was wrong she just sat down and cried harder."  
  
"Do you have any clue what might have happened?" Jenna asked the head boy.  
  
"Charlie and her got into a pretty big row," Bill whispered hoping Rebecca couldn't hear him, but Rebecca did hear him.  
  
She started to sob harder, not because she thought of the row earlier that day, but because of the row that would ensue from her kissing Russel.  
  
'How am I going to convince him that it was an accident?' was all she could think.  
  
Bill understandably misinterpreted the crescendo of tears and soothingly said, "Oh, Becca, don't cry. Charlie isn't mad at you for slapping him. He understands that he should have talked to you first, but he was more worried about your safety. You didn't know that Ryan had sent the bludgers after you during the games, so when Charlie hit him it was a huge shock. He knows that you wouldn't have done it if you knew everything and wants to talk to you about it when you are ready to."  
  
Rebecca didn't look up, but managed to regain some more control over her tears.  
  
"There that is better," Bill soothingly continued. "Come on let's go and talk to Charlie. You'll feel better about everything after you do and you know everything that he heard about the bludger situtaion."  
  
"The bludger situation?"  
  
Ryan had just walked around the corner in search of Russel. Bill turned around and saw Ryan standing there with a fresh shiner.  
  
"Yeah, the bludger situation, Malfoy," Bill coolly responded as he stared accusingly at the Slytherin.  
  
"I didn't do it, Weasel," Ryan hissed.  
  
Ryan's plead of innocent went on deaf ears. Jenna and Lennon had heard enough from Bill trying to calm down Rebecca that they believed Charlie had the right idea.  
  
"Rebecca, come on you know me. I don't want to see you hurt. I am sorry that you got knocked off of the broom, but you got to believe me, I did not do it!"  
  
Rebecca didn't even stir. She couldn't understand why Charlie would accuse him of doing such a thing if he didn't have proof that Ryan had at least a hand in it.  
  
"Please, I am sorry about it, but I didn't do it."  
  
Ryan tried to take a step towards Rebecca to get her to look at him, but Bill stepped in his way.  
  
"I didn't do it!"  
  
"Then why do you keep apologizing for it?" Lennon finally asked.  
  
She just couldn't understand why he was being so insistent that he wasn't a part of the situation when he kept saying he was sorry for it. Ryan turned towards Lennon and saw her face of stone staring back at him.  
  
"Because I am sorry she had to go through it," Ryan slowly started. "I am sorry everyone had to watch it happen in the stadium. I am sure that everyone had a couple years taken off of their lives because of it. I don't ever want to see her hurt so I am sorry when it happens or when it comes close to happening even if I have nothing to do with it."  
  
Lennon looked into Ryan's steely grey eyes and her face softened.  
  
"You really didn't do it, did you?" she whispered.  
  
"No, I didn't," Ryan softly replied. He was happy that he found one person to listen to him finally.  
  
CLAP... CLAP... CLAP...  
  
Ryan and Lennon turned to see Bill clapping slowly.  
  
"Nice acting, Malfoy," Bill said after he stopped clapping.  
  
"What?" Lennon questioned wondering what was going through her boyfriend's head.  
  
"Oh, please," Bill relied. "Don't tell me you actually believe he is telling the truth, Len?"  
  
"Yes, I do," Lennon defiantly.  
  
"Than tell me why his cronies were having a conversation about how he did it."  
  
"My cronies?" Ryan questioned.  
  
"Yeah, Charlie was walking in the hall when he heard them discussing you sending the bludgers after Becca."  
  
Rebecca's head instantly popped up. She knew there had to have something for Charlie to off. She looked at Ryan in a manner that did not accuse him of actually doing anything, but more or less said, 'they did it, but was it the truth?'  
  
Ryan turned around quickly and left the scene, determined to get proof that he was innocent.  
  
"See, Len, he did it!" Bill told Lennon while pointing at the back of Ryan. "Why else would he leave?"  
  
"MAYBE, he wanted to find out why his cronies were spreading a rumor that he had done it!" Lennon fired back.  
  
She had said it loud enough that Ryan could hear it while he rounded the corner on his search for Hans, Dan, Sam, and the answer to the questions that was running through his head.  
  
'Always did like McCartney. Wonder what she is doing with a loser like Weasely?' he thought as he got out of ear shot.  
  
Jenna and Rebecca remained where they were though they both wished they could shrink away. Bill and Lennon were really getting into it.  
  
"Why are you making up excuses for the creep when all the evidence points to him?" Bill demanded.  
  
"I looked into his eye and there wasn't a hint that said he was lying," Lennon retorted.  
  
"Oh, really?"  
  
"Yeah, do you have a problem with that?"  
  
"Yes, I do. The guy went after my brother with bewitched bludgers and got Cathrine in the process. He has proven that when he wants to get some one he doesn't care what means he uses to get them."  
  
"Oh so you're saying he is a bad guy then?"  
  
"In this case," Bill said. He knew that Rebecca had grown up with Ryan and she wouldn't have been friends with him if there wasn't some good in him.  
  
"Well, he isn't!"  
  
"Len, quit being stubborn and face the facts!"  
  
"I have and what I see is a guy who is getting persecuted BY YOU for something he didn't do!"  
  
Bill didn't respond and Lennon didn't bother to continue. They both just stared at each other.  
  
Jenna and Rebecca looked back and forth between the two wondering what was going to happen next.  
  
Before anyone said another word Charlie's voice came down the hall.  
  
"We have to find her. She has been gone too long?"  
  
Charlie came around the corner with Greg, James, and Colin and stopped dead in his tracks when he saw Bill and Lennon intensely looking at each other.  
  
As he surveyed the scene he saw the look of concern on Rebecca's and Jenna's face.  
  
"What's going on?" he asked as he and his friends approached.  
  
"Lennon, here, is being naive in thinking that Ryan is innocent, even though everything from what you heard to his action just now, says he isn't," Bill replied still staring at Lennon.  
  
She didn't respond to his comment, but her eyes narrowed and she let out a huff.  
  
Charlie was preparing what to say to get the situation calmed down when Ryan who was looking furious came into view with Hans, Dan and Sam. Adam, Kurt, Audrey, and Kevin were behind the four Slytherins with very curious expressions.  
  
The four Ravenclaws came over and took a seat next to Rebecca and Jenna as Ryan ordered, "You tell them exactly what you told me."  
  
Hans, Dan, and Sam looked at each other and then with a little more prodding from Ryan Dan stepped up and said, "We made up the story about the bludgers being bewitched to get Carter."  
  
"Why?" Charlie said through gritted teeth.  
  
"So that you and Carter would get in a fight," Dan hissed back.  
  
"Malfoy, your friends are incorrigible," Bill commented looking nearly as anger as his brother.  
  
"Why you little prats," Kurt said as he got up from beside Jenna and walked over to be with Greg, James, and Colin. Kevin and Adam got up too and glaring at the three Slytherins stood beside the Gryffindors.  
  
The three Slytherins didn't seem too worried until Ryan step through them and as he walked to be with the Ravenclaws and the Gryffindors commented, "I don't know why you ever thought it would be a good idea."  
  
"Hey what's going on?" came a voice over group.  
  
Everyone turned up to see Russel who was still smiling from the kiss coming down the steps. Rebecca shuttered and turned back to the larger group as Ryan explained about the rumor.  
  
"Why did you guys want to start a fight between those two?" Russel snarled upset that it was his friends that had caused Rebecca so much suffering this time round.  
  
"So that you could have a good time on your date with Carter," responded Sam timidly.  
  
Well that was the end of what could be called the peace of the discussion, because Russel exploded and yelled, "WHO ASKED YOU TO DO THAT? I SURE DIDN'T!"  
  
As Russel continued ripping into the three boys, Ryan started with, "HOW DARE YOU MAKE UP SOMETHING ABOUT ME!"  
  
Charlie of course had a few choice words to say so he joined in to the yelling.  
  
The other fifth year boys kept their mouths closed but everyone could tell that they were ready to jump in if a physical fight started even if they had no intent on stopping anything.  
  
Bill, on the other hand, probably would have told the three lying Slytherins off, but Lennon had commented, "See I was right, he didn't do it. Still think that I am a bad judge of character!"  
  
"I never said that you were a bad judge of character!" Bill told her back.  
  
"You called me naïve that sounds like that was what you were insinuating!"  
  
"Well, you were acting that way, so if that what it means to you that must have been what you were!"  
  
As those two's side spat continued, Audrey, Jenna, and Rebecca sat on the steps at the big confrontation. None of them knew what to do to stop it. The sound of the huge row was more than Rebecca's head could take. She got up the steps to get away from it all.  
  
"Are you okay?" Audrey asked when Rebecca started to get up.  
  
"I have a headache," was all Rebecca answered.  
  
She moved past the boys and farther down the hall back towards the Gryffindor tower. She didn't make it much farther when she felt like her head was going to split open.  
  
"Oh!" Rebecca gasped and then fell to the floor.  
  
"BECCA!" Jenna cried over the yelling that was going on as she and Audrey rushed to her.  
  
Adam had noticed Rebecca walk past looking pale and was already by her side. Charlie had stopped yelling as did the others when they hear Jenna. Adam flipped Rebecca over and started to try to revive her as Charlie rushed to her side.  
  
Audrey and Jenna instantly jumped up knowing that if they didn't they were going to get knocked out of the way. They were right, because Charlie dropped down to Rebecca's side and relieved Adam of his duty to wake up Rebecca. It took a minute, but Charlie managed to get Rebecca revived.  
  
She blinked several time before every thing came into focus and she saw, Ryan, Russel and Charlie peering over all with the same concerned/relieved look in their face. Rebecca laid there for a moment until she remembered what had happened up in the owlery.  
  
With in a second of her realization, Rebecca was up from the ground and out from the group that surrounded her. She dashed around the corner hoping that she could get away from everyone.  
  
However she was wrong, Charlie chased after her.  
  
Rebecca was about to the stairs that lead to the Gryffindor tower when Charlie caught up with her.  
  
"Becca, please stop," Charlie said to her as he wrapped his arm around her waist.  
  
He had a feeling that she would stop running if he did so. He let out a sigh of relief when Rebecca proved him right, because she instantly stopped.  
  
"Becca, why did you run off from everyone?" Charlie whispered in her ear. "We were all so worried about you."  
  
Rebecca didn't hear the last bit of what he said, because she was thinking about why.  
  
'I kissed Russel,' Rebecca thought as she sat down and started to cry again. Like Bill, Charlie misread his girl's tears to mean that she was upset that she got so mad at him for going off and punching Ryan after he heard the fake story. He sat down and wrapped his arms around Rebecca and pulled her into his lap.  
  
Rebecca rested her head on his chest as she continued to sob. Charlie tried to say a few comforting words about how he didn't blame her for slapping him, but she didn't hear any of it, because she was listening to Charlie's heartbeat. There was something soothing and upsetting about listening to it.  
  
Rebecca cried some more wondering how she would ever get the courage to tell Charlie what happened up in the Owlery when she knew it would break his heart.  
  
As Rebecca pondered this, Charlie was trying to figure out what was really the matter with her.  
  
'She shouldn't be crying for this long. I wonder if she got some other news that was bad. ... Maybe she got a letter saying she wasn't coming back!' Charlie's mind raced. He squeezed his arms around her tighter, terrified at the thought.  
  
Rebecca didn't fidget out of his arms so Charlie was content to stay on the cold stone stairs with her in his arms. After a while he decided that even if he didn't want to let her go, they needed to get off the stairs and talk about what was really the matter with Rebecca.  
  
"Becca," he whispered, but got no answer. "Becca?"  
  
Charlie tip Rebecca's head back and saw that the emotional roller coaster of the day had taken its toll on her. She had fallen asleep listening to his heartbeat. Charlie let a sigh out and carried Rebecca back up to her dorm.  
  
"Wish I knew what was really the matter," Charlie said as he laid her in her bed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  
  
The smile that appeared on Rebecca's face when he did this little familiar action gave Charlie some conciliation, so he left her to sleep feeling a slight better. 


	26. Planning

Rebecca woke up to a ruckus in the room.  
  
"Cathrine, you need to go talk to Greg and Charlie," Sara said in a tone that Rebecca could tell she was getting exasperated.  
  
"Why?" Cathrine asked back.  
  
"We don't know. You just do," Jacquelyn responded sounding as bad Sara.  
  
'Oh, they are trying to get the party planned. I better get some help for them,' Rebecca thought.  
  
She then opened up her curtains quietly and signaled to Sara that she would be back with reinforcements. Rebecca walked down the stairs hoping Charlie wouldn't be down there so she didn't have to explain anything right then.  
  
Unfortunately, Charlie was sitting on the chair by the fire and saw her as soon as she hit the bottom of the stairs. He hopped off up and rushed towards her. Greg had been sitting on the couch looked over to see what got Charlie excited and was relieved to see Rebecca up.  
  
Before Charlie got to her or could say anything, Rebecca addressed the two boys, "Sara and Jacquelyn are having a problem getting Cathrine to leave them alone so that they can plan the party. They said you guys wanted to talk to her, but she wants to know why. Do you think you could come up with something plausible to get her out of the room?"  
  
"I got an idea, I was going to use it for when she talked to us," Greg responded. "We should go up and get her."  
  
Charlie shook his head and the three headed up the stairs. He kept looking at Rebecca to try to talk to her about things or at least get a time for them to talk set up, but she lept yawning so he just decided it would be best to wait.  
  
As the three Gryffindors approached the girls' room they heard Sara and Jacquelyn say in unision, "Cathrine we are not lying to you, the guys want to talk to you."  
  
"Are you sure?" Cathrine questioned wondering why her friends were trying to get rid of her.  
  
"Cathrine," Greg said as he followed Rebecca into the room. "we did want to talk to you." "Oh," Cathrine replied slightly embarrassed.  
  
"Come on," Charlie said grabbing the jokester's arm and leading her out of the room. Greg followed the two out of the room and gave the other girls a wink to tell them that they would keep Cathrine occupied until the three came down the steps.  
  
When the door was completely shut, Rebecca turned back and saw Sara and Jacqelyn looking right at her.  
  
"Thank you," Sara quietly said.  
  
"No problem," was all Rebecca could reply. It was an awkward moment because of what had happened earlier that day between the girls.  
  
They all stood there timidly looking at each other and then suddenly the three friends said together, "I'm sorry."  
  
Sara, Rebecca, and Jacquelyn let out a laugh and did a group hug.  
  
"So, what are we going to do about this party?" Jacquelyn asked the as the three settled down on the floor in the center of the room. "It's got to be big."  
  
"Oh, definitely," Sara stated. "Everyone in this house wants in on it."  
  
"Too bad we can't do it with the other houses, too. I am sure there a lot of people there that would like to celebrate Cathrine being awake," added Rebecca. The other girls looked at their fellow Gryffindor as if she had just struck gold.  
  
"What?" Rebecca asked.  
  
"Getting the other houses in on the party would be the perfect surprise. Everyone in Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw love Cathrine," Sara said her face all lit up.  
  
"And Kris would be so excited about it," added Jacquelyn.  
  
Rebecca thought for a moment and then a huge smile appeared on her face as she said, "It is a prefect surprise isn't it?"  
  
The girls started to laugh.  
  
"So how are we going to pull this off?" Sara asked as she got up to get a peace of paper, ink, and a quill to jot down ideas.  
  
"Well, we can't have it down in the common room with the other houses, can we?" Jacquelyn stated.  
  
"Why don't we do it outside?" suggested Rebecca.  
  
"Good idea; then we don't have to worry about space issues," Sara said as she wrote it down. Jacquelyn started to spout out ideas on different things and Rebecca thought of a few things for herself.  
  
"Um, guys we have a problem," Rebecca said after a minute.  
  
"What?" Sara and Jacquelyn asked.  
  
"The Slytherins."  
  
"The Slytherins," Sara and Jacquelyn said disgusted that they knew that they would have to invite that house if they were going to have the party in a more public place.  
  
They all let out sighs, not sure what to do.  
  
"Maybe, we should try anyways to have it outside," Rebecca finally said. "I mean they don't have to come if they don't want to celebrate what we are celebrating, so if we are told we have to invite to have it outside then we will."  
  
Sara and Jacquelyn shock their heads in agreement.  
  
The girls then spent the rest of the afternoon talking over plans for the party and splitting up jobs for getting things set up.  
  
When it was time for dinner, Jacquelyn grabbed James and headed down before anyone else so that they could talk to McGonagall about the party and also find out whom all would need to approve it for it to happen.  
  
Colin pulled Cathrine out of the common room as Sara and Rebecca came down the stairs. He was trying to give the others a chance to find out what was going on with the party.  
  
"So what are our duties for this party?" asked Greg as the girls walked to the couches.  
  
Sara looked at Rebecca and then turned back to Greg and Charlie to say, "Help us get the other houses in on it without Cathrine knowing it."  
  
The two boys looked at the girls curiously causing Sara to explain everything.  
  
"Sound cool," Charlie commented.  
  
"Yeah, Rebecca did come up with a good idea, didn't she?" Sara commented causing Rebecca to look away as she blushed. Sara didn't know the status of Charlie and Rebecca, but figured that it would hurt to make a comment that reminded Charlie that Rebecca was a caring person.  
  
He got the drift, but didn't know how to pull Rebecca off to the side to talk to her alone right now so he said, "Couldn't have said it better myself. Come on, let's go down to dinner and see if James and Jacquelyn got it approved."  
  
Charlie watched Rebecca sweetly smile as she shook her head in agreement.  
  
'I love that smile,' he thought as he followed the two girls and Greg out of the door.  
  
Charlie walked down to the Great Hall at Rebecca's elbow trying to figure out how to pull her off to the side to talk to her without her smile disappearing. He thought he had a way to do it, but they saw James and Jacquelyn standing out in the hall with huge smiles. Rebecca and Sara ran right to them with Greg and Charlie closely behind him.  
  
Before anyone could say anything, Jacqueslyn squealed, "We can do it!"  
  
"Really?!" Sara and Rebecca squealed in unison.  
  
The girls grabbed each others hands and started to jump up and down in excitement squealing some more. The boys all smiled, but couldn't help but roll their eyes at the giddiness the girls were displaying.  
  
"Jacquelyn, you going to tell them what needs to be done so that we can have this party?" James asked stopping the girls.  
  
"Oh, yeah," Jacquelyn blushed slightly from her temporary lack of a level headedness. "We just have to get the other houses to agree to it."  
  
"Oh well that won't be that hard. We'll do that after dinner," Charlie stated.  
  
"Yeah, we can have a meeting in the library to get things set up," Rebecca added.  
  
"I think Jacquelyn and I should get Colin and come up with a reason for us to leave the hall early so you guys can get everyone," James said.  
  
"Good idea," Greg said.  
  
"Um, how about you girls get Ravenclaw and we'll get Hufflepuff." Both girls shook their heads in agreement.  
  
"Good, now lets get in so Cathrine doesn't get suspicious," Charlie added ushering the group into the hall.  
  
After dinner when James, Jacquelyn, and Colin left with Cathrine, Sara and Rebecca went over and talked to Lennon, Jenna and Audrey about the party and see if they wanted in on it. Greg and Charlie headed over to the Hufflepuff table to do the same.  
  
"That sounds awesome," Audrey said. "We're definitely in."  
  
"Good, we are going to have a meeting in the library about it in a half an hour, bring anyone else that can help you quietly spread the word in your house," Sara stated.  
  
"Great! See you then!" Jenna said as the Gryffindors left.  
  
"Well, that was easy," Sara commented as they walked back over to their table. "Now what are we going to do about the Slytherin's?"  
  
"Well Calloway, hates me and same goes for Kirsta. Cassie would have it all out before we walked away. Hans, Dan, and Sam are not trustworthy enough and I don't want to talk to Russel about it. I guess Ryan is our point of contact there isn't he?" Rebecca stated as she saw that Ryan was sitting right smack in the middle of everyone else that she had just black listed.  
  
"How are you going to get him to the meeting?"  
  
Rebecca thought for a moment.  
  
"Hey Percy, can I borrow a piece of paper, ink and a quill?" Rebecca asked Charlie's studious brother who was already taking books and nots to every meal to study for his first exams.  
  
"Sure," Percy responded as he handed over the requested items.  
  
"Thanks! So how is studying going?" Rebecca asked as she scrolled out on the paper, 'Meet me in the library in 30 minutes. Your cousin.'  
  
"Oh, it is going pretty well," Percy started.  
  
As he went more indepth on his study plan and schedule, Rebecca folded the paper into an airplane and after whistling to get Ryan's attention she threw it at him.  
  
She turned back to listen to Percy when the paper plane came back with 'Why?' written under her message.  
  
'Because,' Rebecca wrote, refolded the plane and then sent it back.  
  
'Because why?'  
  
'Because I want to talk to you about something.'  
  
'About what?'  
  
'Listen goober, are you coming or not?'  
  
'Yeah I am coming.'  
  
'Then you will find out when you get there. I am not going to prank you.'  
  
'I knew that.'  
  
'Yeah, right. Why did you keep asking questions then?'  
  
'I was messing with your head.'  
  
'Whatever. I have to talk to Percy. I'll talk to you in the library.'  
  
With that Rebecca threw the paper plane back to the Slytherin table, not realizing that the paper plane throwing had really caught the attention of everyone who was still sitting at that table.  
  
"Sounds like you got yourself all scheduled out," Rebecca commented to Percy as she got up from the table showing him that she had managed to pay attention to what he was saying amidst all the paper plane stuff.  
  
"Yeah, not too many of my fellow class mates have gotten the idea that we really need to be prepared for this."  
  
"Well, don't worry so much about telling them that they need a schedule, just asked them if they want to study with you. I am sure some of them will be more than glad to join you."  
  
"Yeah, I think Lauren was talking about needing a study buddy," added Sara.  
  
Percy nodded his head, and then asked, "Do you think she would study tonight?"  
  
"Don't see why not," Rebecca said outside of the hall. "Why don't you go up stairs and ask her?"  
  
"Okay," and with that Percy was up the steps in a flash.  
  
"What were you talking to Percy about?" Charlie asked as he and Greg joined the girls in the hall.  
  
"Studying," Rebecca quickly responded. "Come on we better head up to the library."  
  
"Yeah, we don't have a lot of time before everyone shows up," Sara stated starting towards the meeting spot.  
  
The four walked into the library to find Lennon, Jenna, and Audrey already there with with Kurt, Kevin, Adam, and Kris.  
  
"Are you guys really going to throw a party for my sis?" Kris excitely asked as the Gryffindors approached.  
  
"Yeah, but don't go telling her," Rebecca teased knowing that the poor little third year was going to have a real problem not sharing with her sister.  
  
"So what are the plans?" Lennon asked.  
  
"Let's wait until everyone is here," Charlie stated sort of coldly.  
  
Bill had talked to him about the row with Lennon and Charlie was ready to get give her a hard time for the hard time she gave Bill. Lennon rolled her eyes and looked at Jenna, who decided that it would be best to get a conversation started instead of having the awkward silence.  
  
"So who all is coming?" she asked.  
  
"Um, some students from Hufflepuff," Sara started and then looked at Greg because she wasn't sure exactly who the guys were talking to.  
  
"Matt Graham, Kristen Lee," Greg started to list who he and Charlie talked to.  
  
Rebecca and Sara looked at each other and mouthed, "The quidditch team."  
  
Both snickered a bit, causing Greg to playfully glare at them.  
  
The Hufflepuffs walked in the door with Bill, Aaron, and A.J. and made their way to the group.  
  
"Hey, I talked to James and Jacquelyn and they sent me down to give out some of the instructions that they forgot to tall you," Bill stated to Rebecca. He was trying hard not to look at Lennon, who was trying not to look at him either.  
  
"Okay," Rebecca slowly said.  
  
"Why don't you tell us, then?" Jenna asked trying to get Bill to look at Lennon, since she was sitting right next to the sixth year Ravenclaw.  
  
"Is everyone here?" Bill asked looking at Rebecca instead of Jenna.  
  
"No," Rebecca simply stated.  
  
"Who's missing?"  
  
"The representative from the Slytherin House, Ryan."  
  
Lennon perked up which bothered Bill slightly.  
  
Just then Ryan came into the library, but he wasn't alone. Russel and Jason had come with him. The boys of the other three houses got up and looked like they were ready for any snide remarks. Rebecca made up her mind to be proactive and stepped in between the two groups.  
  
"Glad to see that you could make it," she said giving Ryan a warm smile, but trying really hard not to look at Russel or Flint.  
  
"See I said she had something up her sleeve, the distraction," Calloway commented not so quietly.  
  
Rebecca stepped in front of Charlie who clenched his fist and look as though he was ready to go after the Slytherin in front of him.  
  
"For once you got something right, Calloway," Rebecca smarted off in this sweet tone that irked Jason. "I did have something up my sleeve."  
  
Ryan looked at his childhood friend dumbfounded.  
  
"I was wanting Ryan to join our merry little party planning committee as a representative of Slytherin."  
  
"What is the party for?" Calloway asked trying not to let it show that Rebecca had caught him off guard with her response.  
  
"To celebrate a friend being out of the infirmary."  
  
"Tyson," Russel stated.  
  
"Bingo," Rebecca replied accidentally looking over at Russel who was wearing a goof 'you kissed me' grin on his face that was quite upsetting to her.  
  
Luckily she was able to keep her composure and say, "Now that all the houses are accounted for, Bill why don't you tell us about what James and Jacquelyn told you."  
  
Everyone took a seat around the table that they were standing by. "Okay," Bill started once everyone was settled. He had to be careful as he looked around the table not to linger to long on Lennon who was sitting next to Ryan and kind of flirting with him. "They were told by Professor McGonagall that if all the houses were in consensus with the party then we could have it. There is a slight catch though, if we want to have this party we are going to have to give up a Hogsmeade weekend."  
  
"Oh," Rebecca said what everyone was thinking. "Well, it looks like we are going to have to go back to our houses and see if everyone is okay with that. But if the party is going to take place with all the houses participating, I just want you to know there were some executive decisions made this after noon." "Like what?" asked Adam intrigued with the whole party idea. "First and second years will be invited to the party and it will be outside."  
  
"What about entertainment?" Kevin asked.  
  
"We wanted to talk to you all about that before we said anything about it, but I think there is more than enough talent in this school for us to have something awesome at the party."  
  
"Are we going to get food from the kitchen?" questioned Matt getting a laugh from everyone because he was known for thinking with his stomach and Chelsea often complained about it.  
  
"Unless there is some place else we can get food."  
  
Rebecca looked around table and after exchanging a couple words with Sara, she said, "I think that we had better find out whether our respective houses are for the party since it will be taking away a Hogsmeade visit."  
  
"Please, make sure that you keep this quiet everyone," Sara added. "If you don't, I am going to hex you."  
  
Rebecca and everyone else turned towards Sara gobsmacked at her threat. No one doubted that if Sara got really mad she would make whoever upset pay for it and it was obvious that if Cathrine found out about this party she would be mad enough to do the worst hexes that she knew.  
  
"Okay, then," Rebecca said turning back to the group still a little in disbelief that Sara was the one to threaten everyone. Greg, Charlie, James, and Colin would have been her top choices if she had to bet on who was going to throw out the first threat on keeping the party a secret, but she had to admit Sara saying it first made the a bit more valid of a then.  
  
"I guess I better tell you that I am not going to be happy either if Cathrine finds out from anyone." Rebecca pointedly stared at Calloway. "And you won't know when I am going to get you, but it will be horrific."  
  
"Are you threatening me with death, Carter?" Jason hissed.  
  
"No, that would be too kind. Plus, it is way to easy so what would be the fun in that for me. I think I can come up with a better prank than that."  
  
All of the sudden Adam snickered thinking of the Rebecca's ink prank. Rebecca looked at him for a second and then started to laugh with him. Slowly Audrey, Jenna, Lennon, Kurt, and Kevin started to laugh too.  
  
Charlie chuckled a little, but then in order to regain the composure of the group without being asked what was so funny, he said, "Sara's and Rebecca's threats aren't alone everyone. I think I can vouch that if someone from Gryffindor finds out that someone told Cathrine on purpose there is going to be a price to pay."  
  
The other Gryffindors nodded their heads in agreement.  
  
Bill then added, "Why don't we set up another meeting so that we know whether or not all the houses are going to be in on it? And just so everyone knows they were going to announce that this weekend was going to be another visit to Hogsmeade, but I talked to McGonagall on my way here and she said that they were going to hold off announcing it until we told her whether everyone was for giving up the visit."  
  
"So we need to get this decided pretty fast, then?" Lennon commented.  
  
"Yeah," Bill simply responded looking at Lennon who had been sitting fair close to Ryan, but moved away when she realized she was being watched by Bill.  
  
"So why don't we have another meeting tomorrow?" Jenna asked trying to keep the tension between the two to a minimum.  
  
"Will that give everyone enough time?" asked Greg.  
  
"Yep," Matt responded for the Hufflepuffs. "We probably won't get any resistant."  
  
"Same here," Kurt commented for his house. Everyone then turned to the Slytherin contingent.  
  
Ryan took a deep breathe and after looking at his fellow housemates, he stated, "I don't know, but if Cassie wants it to happen then we'll be there."  
  
Russel and Jason nodded. They both knew that Ryan was right, if Cassie wanted to go to the party and wasn't allowed because someone wanted to go to Hogsmeade that person was never going to hear the end of it.  
  
Rebecca tried hard to contain herself, but ended up snickering causing all three Slytherins to look at her funny.  
  
"Sorry, it's just so funny to think what Cassie is going to do when someone rejects this."  
  
Everyone around the table started to laugh including Calloway, who was the last to join in.  
  
"Okay," Rebecca finally said once she got her giggles under control. "Let's plan on meeting here after dinner tomorrow. Sound good?"  
  
Mumbles of approval went around the group. Slowly, everyone started to get up and say goodnight to the other houses.  
  
As the groups started to slowly dispense, Bill took a deep breathe and slowly let it out.  
  
"Len, I need to talk," he forced out in such a manner that let Lennon know there was no room for postponing this discussion.  
  
Rebecca watched as the two walked off and started to feel sick to her stomach.  
  
'I don't agree with her flirting with Ryan in front of Bill like that, but at least he didn't kiss him,' she thought. 'I hope he doesn't give her too hard of a time, after all when Cassie finds out Lennon will be in enough trouble.'  
  
"You okay?" Russel having noticed the sick look on her face asked disturbing Rebecca's train of thought.  
  
She turned to respond and fell back startled on the close proximity he was to her. He was a foot away from her which wouldn't have been that bad except she feared that he might try to kiss her in front of Charlie.  
  
"Hey, are you okay?" Russel asked again as he tried to help Rebecca up.  
  
"I'm fine," she responded as she wrangled her arm out of his grip and got herself up off of the floor.  
  
"So, are you going to be at the next meeting?"  
  
Rebecca tried hard not to roll her eyes at the blatant attempt to keep a conversation going. Under normal circumstances she would have just left and gone along her merry way, but she really wanted this party to happen so she civilly responded, "I don't know, someone has to be sure that Cathrine doesn't get suspicious of what is going on, so if I am the one with the plausible excuse to keep her from everyone else, then I won't be here."  
  
"Oh, that makes sense. Well if you need any help with that let me know."  
  
Russel did this little tilt of his head towards her something similar to what Wadsworth would do to remind her that he was not only her guardian, but her servant as well.  
  
Rebecca jumped back again and found herself in Chalie's arms. Rebecca turned beet red, partly because Russel had freaked her out enough to have her so excitable and partly because Ryan was staring at her and looked as though he was ready to question her on her behavior.  
  
Just when she thought there was no hope to get away from being grilled, Calloway ordered the boys back to the common room. Rebecca let out a sigh, but knew that she wouldn't be that lucky all the time.  
  
"A little jumpy, aren't we?" Charlie joked trying to lighten the mood as the Slytherins left. He didn't like Russel feeling that comfortable to get that close to Rebecca while he was watching, but figured she didn't like it either so there was no point in getting her upset about it.  
  
Rebecca flashed her sweet little smile at him stating the obvious, but all the sudden had this guilty look on her face when she thought of what was making her jumpy, which told Charlie she had did something.  
  
"We need to talk," Rebecca said soberly as she walked out of his arms. Charlie followed Rebecca into a vacant aisle.  
  
"Listen if this has to do with you slapping me, "Charlie started, but Rebecca shook her head no so he stopped that sentence."What's the matter?" Charlie asked looking at his girlfriend seeing how she was really fighting to get the courage to say something.  
  
"Well, you know how I ran out of the tower after Sara, Jacquelyn, and Cathrine came up into the room?" Rebecca nervously began.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"Well, I ran to the owlery to write Stacy back," Rebecca stated and then continued to tell Charlie about the contents of Stacy's letter and that it had made her think that she really hadn't acted to fair to him, but there was so much that was still confusing her that she needed to write it down and get it straight in her head. "Well I wrote my letter up in the owlery and someone was up there when I did it."  
  
"Who?" Charlie interjected as Rebecca drew breathe.  
  
"Russel."  
  
"Flint?" Charlie had to keep himself from going off until Rebecca had a chance to tell him the whole story.  
  
"Yeah, he was in there before I got up there and I was too distracted to realize it was him when I came in or realize that he didn't leave."  
  
"Okay," Charlie slowly said wondering where Rebecca's story was going to go.  
  
"Anyways, I was still pretty confused and I had had a headache."  
  
"You didn't faint, did you?" Charlie asked really concerned.  
  
"Yeah, and he caught me."  
  
"Is that it?" Charlie interrupted with a scoffing tone. "Were you worried about telling me that he finally caught you when you fainted?"  
  
"Not exactly," Rebecca started to run her finger long the spine of a book on the shelf closest to her, as she said, "He got me talking about what was upsetting me and I got things straight in my head and was ready to come and find you to talk about it. I... I... I..." Rebecca let out a sigh and took a deep breathe as Charlie watched her finally muster up the courage to quickly tell him, "I looked up to thank him and I ended up kissing him."  
  
Rebecca let out another sigh as she waited for the repercussion the blow she just dealt to Charlie.  
  
But Charlie just stood there and playfully asked, "You're joking?"  
  
Rebecca quit staring at the book spine and turned to him and plainly stated, "No, I am not."  
  
"Was it a dream?"  
  
"No."  
  
"So it was a real kiss."  
  
"Unfortunately," Rebecca was starting to get frustrated that Charlie didn't believe what she said.  
  
Charlie looked around to see if Russel was some place close to get answers from.  
  
"He didn't do it!" Rebecca hissed at him knowing exactly what was going through Charlie's head. "I kissed him. That is the end of the story. He didn't do anything. I looked up and it happened."  
  
Charlie looked at Rebecca almost in disbelief that she was sticking up for Russel.  
  
'But then again, maybe she is sticking up for her integrity. She won't lie if you ask her something directly,' Charlie thought as he continued watching Rebecca.  
  
He was about to say something, when Rebecca closed her eyes and raised her hand to her temple.  
  
"Are you okay?" Charlie asked noticing Rebecca was getting a bit paler.  
  
"It's just a headache. ... It's," Rebecca said as she opened her eyes to see Charlie looking around for Russel. This annoyed her and therefore she finished her sentence through gritted teeth, "nothing."  
  
Charlie turned back to her with a very surprised look on his face.  
  
Before he could say anything Rebecca continued, "He is not in here anymore. You saw him leave, with Jason and Ryan. ... Why can't you believe that things happen to me without anyone's intervention? I have a headache because I been through a lot this weekend; not because Flint is somewhere around here lurking and hexing me hoping that he can catch me again like he did in the owlery."  
  
Charlie couldn't stand it anymore, so finally he let out, "Becca, the prat has done it before. I am sorry that I suspect him about giving you headaches still, but he can't be trusted. You know that from how he broke the truce you two had."  
  
"I know, but it doesn't change the fact that I kissed him!"  
  
"I say it was a trick."  
  
"A trick?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"So you're saying that Russel knew that I would be going to the owlery, because Hans, Dan, and Sam planted the idea in your head that Ryan was going to get me with a bludger so that we would have a row so that I would run upstairs to find sanctuary in my room only to get hit with questions by my roommates hence leading me to the owlery where he could be making it so that I was running to him. Now why didn't I think of that?" Rebecca sarcastically said.  
  
"Don't," Charlie started.  
  
"Don't what? You know if that is what you are thinking happened that's fine. It is a bloody brilliant plan, but I have one thing to say about it. You look like the biggest fool in it, because everything plays off of Russel playing with your mind and knowing exactly how you would react. And the last time I checked I wasn't dating one, so I don't think it happened that way. I kissed him and therefore cheated on you. ... Please, don't go looking for excuses for me, it just makes me sound like I'm lying to you and you know I am not a liar."  
  
Charlie let out a deep breathe and looked at her. He didn't know what to say or do. Finally after a moment he turned and left Rebecca standing alone in the library.  
  
Eventually, Rebecca walked out of the aisle. Relieved that she didn't get yelled at, but wishing she would have kept her temper.  
  
"It's bad enough I broke his heart with that news," she muttered to herself.  
  
"Hey, Becca, can I talk to you?" a voice said from behind her.  
  
Rebecca turned around to see Bill standing there. She looked at him for a moment and couldn't help but notice a there was a strange look in his eye. It had a glint of sadness, some anger, and a hint of concern mixed with this overall protective glare. Rebecca had only one guess on why he was projecting that protective.  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca finally answered wondering how much she was going to get yelled at. Bill gently took her arm and led her out into the hall.  
  
"Listen, Charlie told me about the kiss," Bill softly started.  
  
"Figured as much," Rebecca glumly said as she took a seat on the steps waiting for Bill to start yelling at her.  
  
Much to Rebecca's surprise Bill sat down next to her and said, "You know everyone is allowed to make a mistake."  
  
"What?" Rebecca looked at him strangely.  
  
Bill put his arms around her and explained, "I have my own idea of what caused the kiss, but I have a feeling that you being the straightforward fly right type person that you are, you aren't going to let yourself off as easy. For right now, I think if you realize that it was a mistake you'll be better off. You can't get yourself down about it."  
  
"But Bill, Charlie..."  
  
"Charlie is shocked, so give him some time and all will be fine, I promise."  
  
Rebecca couldn't help but give him a doubting look.  
  
"Trust me, your reactions to Russel walking into the meeting and even daring to talk to you that close, show that your attitude hasn't changed towards him. I mean, you weren't flirting with him to get Charlie back for the row you two had."  
  
"Like Lennon?"  
  
Bill let out a sigh.  
  
"Sorry, Bill, I didn't..."  
  
"It's okay, Becca. Len and I are... are... just going through a rough patch. We have never fought before even when we were just friends. We are going to see whether we can make it through, but I know that no matter what we will always care for each other."  
  
"How do you know that?"  
  
Bill smirked as he said, "Because tonight when I asked to talk to her the first thing out of my mouth when we were alone was 'You need to be careful not to get Cassie mad at you.'"  
  
"Really?"  
  
"Yeah, I would have thought that I would have been so mad the way she was flirt with Malfoy, but all I could see was a pissed off Cassie sending Len to the infirmary."  
  
"What did Lennon say?"  
  
"She was shocked, to say the least. I think she was ready for another row, but when I said, 'I don't care who you are dating. I will always have your back when you need it.' I think I showed her that I was more concerned for her happiness than who was right in our row."  
  
"Are you two still dating?"  
  
"Well, I guess for now. She didn't say that she wanted to break up even though she had a opportunity. I am going to leave it up to her, but I am hoping that she waits until after all this party stuff."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I want to try and surprise her at the party, if that is okay with you and the other head planners?"  
  
Rebecca sweetly smiled and quietly responded, "It will be fine, whatever you have planned. ... Bill, uh, what all did Charlie say to you when he was leaving?"  
  
"He said that you were upset about the kiss and then other than the details that he knew of all he said was that he had to leave you alone because he was going to explode from frustration." Rebecca gave him a confused look. "You know trying to get you from not feeling guilty when you were so insistent on that it was your fault."  
  
"But it was..."  
  
Bill put his fingers to her lips to stop her from saying anything more. Rebecca looked into his brown eyes and he said, "This is what Charlie was talking about. You a bit irascible right now so please go up to bed and then tomorrow try to talk to Charlie without getting upset when he tries to give you an out, okay?"  
  
Rebecca nodded her head and the two got up and headed up to an empty common room.  
  
The next morning Rebecca got up and headed down to breakfast hoping that Charlie might come down early so that they could talk alone. But, Charlie never showed. Rebecca asked Greg where he was at as the owl flew in to deliver the mail.  
  
"He wasn't out of bed yet when I was leaving the room. Don't worry; if he doesn't come down here, he'll make it to potions in time without fail."  
  
Just then Charlie dashed into the hall and grabbed a couple pieces of toast and informing the others that it was time to get to class. Rebecca jumped up and followed Charlie to the potions room. She had to admit that she was relieved to see him have enough time to grab something for breakfast, but she couldn't help to feel that it was a bit calculated.  
  
Rebecca took her seat in potions and was about to ask if Charlie would be her partner for the potion just to break the ice when Snape entered the room announcing, "Today, I am going to be assigning you partners. It appears some of you need to put in a great deal more effort in getting ready for OWLS, so I am going to pair a strong potions student with a weak one."  
  
Rebecca slouched some on her stool upset that she wouldn't get to talk to Charlie while they did the potion. As Snape proceed to group the student up Rebecca stole a few glances at Charlie who seemed very placid towards her.  
  
Snape paired Charie with Cassie, but skipped over Rebecca. Soon there it was obvious that Dan was going to be her partner since he was the worst student of the ones that hadn't been paired up yet. Rebecca could feel a headache coming on. The idea that she was going to be paired with Dan who was hopeless when it came to potions wasn't that bad until your factored in that he was the one that helped Ryan bewitch the bludger that got Cathrine and started the rumor that started her and Charlie's row which lead to everything else. Of course what happened the last time Snape decided to pair the class up himself didn't help matters. As she thought of everything, her head felt worse and worse. Trying to lessen it she closed her eyes and put her hand up to her temple.  
  
"Shoot me now," Rebecca muttered a slight bit more audible than she had intended.  
  
"What was that Miss Carter?" Snape asked walking towards her.  
  
"Sorry, Professor. It is just that I have a headache and it really hurts," Rebecca said straightening herself up slightly.  
  
"Bad enough that you want someone to kill you?"  
  
Rebecca just nodded her head with a strange look on her face that she thought it was a weird request, too. Of course, she knew it sounded bad, but with all the emotions that were tied with giving her the headache made it feel worst than any she had ever had. Under normal conditions a headache of this magnitude would have caused her to mercifully pass out, but she didn't feel that light headedness that usually accompanied the headache shortly before she would faint.  
  
"Miss Carter, why don't you go see Madame Pompfrey," Snape said going up to his desk to write a quick note. "I am sure you are more than capable of prepare any potion thrown at you on the OWLs so please stay up there the rest of the period."  
  
"Yes, sir," Rebecca responded as she jumped off her stool to gather up her things.  
  
"Sir, can someone go with her in case she faints?" Charlie asked causing Rebecca to look at him. He looked truly concerned, even though he wasn't looking at her when he said it.  
  
"Someone or you, Mr. Weasley?"  
  
"Someone."  
  
Charlie's response puzzled Snape causing him to look at the Gryffindor strangely. With the two dating, Snape would have naturally assumed that Charlie would want to take her there.  
  
"Sir, she does faint," Russel added just to give a little push to Charlie's request. Under normal circumstance he, of course, wouldn't want to vocally agree with Charlie, but in this case he decided it would be better if he did.  
  
"Are you volunteering, Mr. Flint?" Snape asked turning his attention away from Charlie and Rebecca.  
  
Russel thought for a moment about saying yes, after all he would get to spend some time with Rebecca without the threat of Charlie showing up, but he saw the death look Charlie was giving him and noticed Rebecca seemed to be frantically thinking of something.  
  
'Probably trying to get herself to pass out now so that Weasel catches her and Professor says the usual, 'Mr. Weasley take her to the infirmary.' Maybe if I say no I can prove something to her,' Russel thought as he replied, "No, I need to stay here and practice my potions."  
  
Ryan, Dan, Hans, and Sam turned towards their friend trying to figure why he would answer that way. Russel wasn't too bad in potions. Sure he wasn't top student, but still he wasn't that bad to worry about practicing instead of taking the girl he had been after all year to the infirmary.  
  
"Every well," Snape commented turning back to Charlie. "Mr. Weasley since you suggested it, will you escort her?"  
  
"No, I need to practice for OWLs, sir," Charlie simply responded not even looking at Rebecca.  
  
Snape nodded though the expression on his face said that he was taken aback by the reply. Greg did a double take and stared at his best friend while James, Jacquelyn, Colin, and Cathrine looked at him wondering what was wrong. Sara gasped and looked to see how Rebecca reacted to Charlie's comment, but Rebecca didn't even look shocked and was refusing to look at Charlie, because she didn't think she deserved to now.  
  
'I broke his heart, what should I expect. At least now I know how he really feels.'  
  
"James, since you're closer to the head of the class, why don't you escort Miss Carter to the infirmary?" Snap finally said.  
  
"Yes, sir," James responded as he got up from the stool and walked over to take Rebecca out of the room.  
  
"Okay, what's going on?" James questioned as soon as they were out the door and he was sure no one would hear their conversation.  
  
Rebecca took a deep breath slowly letting it out as they started towards the infirmary. Within a few steps she found herself telling James everything about the kiss and then the row after meeting in the library.  
  
"So it was an accident that you kissed him," James reiterated when Rebecca finished.  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca sighed as she walked into the hospital wing.  
  
"Then why did you and Charlie fight if he wasn't blaming you for the accident?"  
  
"He was trying to say it was a trick so to blame Russel and let me off. I was the one who moved and caused it. ... I don't think the word accident came out of either of our mouthes."  
  
"Oh, okay," James whispered and appeared to be enlightened. "Becca don't worry. Charlie will see where you are coming from and you two will get this straightened out. I have no doubt."  
  
Rebecca smiled a little and nodded. James had made her feel better about the situation because she knew that he would only tell her what he thought would truly happen.  
  
"Miss Carter, what is it this time?" Madame Pompfrey asked as she came over to the girl. The healer had to admit that she was surprised to see the girl not being carried in.  
  
"I have a pretty bad headache and Professor Snape sent me up here for the period," Rebecca responded as James waved his good-byes and went back class.  
  
"Have a seat, on the cot, Miss Carter."  
  
"Yes, ma'am."  
  
Rebecca settled herself down and waited as the healer performed her magic.  
  
"Whoa! It worked!" Rebecca excitedly muttered. She couldn't believe it. For once when a healer tried a remedy spell for her headache, it did what it was supposed to.  
  
"It worked?" question Madame Pompfrey who was just as surprised as her patient.  
  
"Yeah, it did!"  
  
Rebecca's smile got bigger.  
  
"Well, how about you stay here until your next class anyways so that we are sure it works?"  
  
Rebecca shook her head in agreement and grabbed her defense book out of her bag to look at while she waited.  
  
"Charlie, we have to talk," James whispered to his friend as he walked back into the potion's room. Charlie looked at him a moment and then turned to see Cassie going to put the wrong ingredient in the potion.  
  
"NO, don't," he exasperatedly said as he took the vile out of Cassie's hand. Charlie then turned to James again and whispered back, "After class, okay? I got my hands a little full here."  
  
James shook his head in agreement as he tried hard not to laugh at Cassie. He got caught up with Sam on what was going on with the potion and found that he was going to have his hands full with correcting it.  
  
"What's the matter with Becca?" Charlie said as soon as he and James were out of the door and headed to Herbology, followed closely by Sara who was ready to give Charlie a piece of her mind.  
  
"You know you could have shown her that much that much concern when she needed to go. She really needed help and you said no," Sara stated giving him a dark look.  
  
"What and get into another row with her?" Charlie defensively asked keeping her from continuing. "After the quidditch match, we have done nothing this past weekend other than eat, sleep, and fight. I would like a little time to figure out our last row that's all."  
  
"Sara, calm down," James evenly said noticing that Sara was about to explode and tell him that was no excuse. "Charlie and Becca are just not using the right word."  
  
"What?" Charlie asked his friend.  
  
"Neither of you said it was an accident."  
  
"What was an accident?" Cathrine asked as she, Colin, Jacquelyn, and Greg caught up with the three.  
  
James looked at Charlie who just nodded for him to go ahead. He figured that they would know soon enough anyways and if he didn't have to say it all the better.  
  
James quickly told everyone what had happened on Saturday finishing by saying, "Becca went to thank Russel and accidentally kissed him for a second."  
  
Sara gasped. Her gumption to fight with Charlie abated. She looked at him and was about to say sorry about her attiude when he said, "I know it was an accident. But she kept blaming herself."  
  
"Yeah, I know, she still is, but the thing that I noticed is that she had no problem when I said it was an accident. I think that she got upset with you, because you didn't believe that she caused it."  
  
Charlie looked at him a moment and then had the same enlightened expression that James had just an hour or so prior.  
  
"Oh, that makes sense," Charlie whispered as he walked into the classroom. "Guys, don't mention the kiss to Becca until I get a chance to talk to her, okay?"  
  
"Fine," James answered.  
  
"Do we have to talk to her at all about this?" Sara questioned. She really never wanted to have a conversation with Rebecca about this, because she knew that it would only bring up bad feelings for her friend.  
  
"No, I think we have enough to do with the," Charlie was about to say the party, but quickly changed when he saw Cathrine looking directly at him, "preparation for OWLs, that I think that you all will be able to avoid the topic."  
  
Everyone shook their heads in agreement.  
  
Charlie looked at his watch and then around the room finally saying, "Where is she? ... Becca was okay wasn't she, James?"  
  
Charlie could have kicked himself for not taking her to the infirmary himself and James response of "I believe she was," was of no consolation to him.  
  
Rebecca ran out of the infirmary to try to get to Herbology on time. As she rounded the corner she ran smack into Bill.  
  
"Hey, Becca! Where are you off to in such a hurry?" Bill asked as he helped her up.  
  
"Thanks. Um I have to get to Herbology and I am going to be late, because Madame Pompfrey wouldn't release me," Rebecca quickly answered as she started to walk away.  
  
"Why were you in the infirmary?" Bill said following her.  
  
"I just had a headache. I'm better now. You don't have to follow me."  
  
"Oh, sorry, I was following you to get you into class without any trouble."  
  
"Oh, thanks," Rebecca said as she slowed down slightly and gave out a sigh of relief.  
  
Bill and Rebecca made their way along the corridor to the door that was closest to the greenhouses talking about this that and the other, but mostly on the situation between Charlie and Rebecca. Bill looked as though he could have choked his brother for not taking Rebecca to see Madame Pompfrey.  
  
"I can't believe Charlie let a little row between you stop him, from taking care of you," Bill disgustedly stated as he opened the door and let Rebecca walk out before following her.  
  
"Well, I guess he was more confused than me on why we were fighting in the first place," Rebecca said as Bill closed the door behind him.  
  
"Besides, would you really want to be around the person who it doesn't matter what is going on you are going to get into a fight with?"  
  
"If she needed to go to the infirmary, I hope I would be able to get past it."  
  
"But, Bill, I have told Charlie that I didn't want to date him one time when he took me there. Why would he want to take me there now? He might think that I would say something about breaking up."  
  
"Would you have?"  
  
"I hope not, but you never know. I really want to keep dating him and I wouldn't have did it on purpose. I just hope we make it thorough this rough patch."  
  
"I am sure you will, Becca. You both just need to talk." Bill opened the door to the Green house and let Rebecca go inside.  
  
"Professor Sprout," Bill stated as he walked into the classroom.  
  
"Yes, Mr. Weasley?" the teacher said looking up from her book.  
  
"I just came into tell you that Miss Carter was in the infirmary last hour and was just released that is why she is late."  
  
"Very well, have a seat Miss Carter."  
  
Before he left, Bill patted Rebecca on the shoulder as she walked to her usual seat happy to see that her friends were smiling at her, but ecstatic that Charlie was genuinely smiling at her.  
  
"Headache gone?" he whispered to her.  
  
"Yeah," was the only thing that Rebecca could respond before Madame Pompfrey resumed her lecture on OWL materials and the students were frantically writing notes to study from.  
  
At the end of the class, Rebecca walked up to Professor Sprout to see what she had missed. As she turned to leave when she was finished, she saw that Charlie was waiting for her by the door.  
  
"Hey," she sweetly whispered as she walked out the door he opened for her.  
  
Charlie was about to respond when they heard, "Miss Carter, might I have a word with you?"  
  
The two looked up to see Professor Snape heading towards them.  
  
"Yes, Professor," Rebecca answered after giving Charlie a concerned look.  
  
As she headed off to talk with Snape, Charlie headed in to the Great Hall for lunch.  
  
"Did you talk to her?" Sara eagerly asked as Charlie sat down at the table.  
  
"Uh, no. Professor Snape wanted to talk to her. But don't worry, she didn't act perturbed when she saw that I was waiting for her, so I'll talk to her after lunch," Charlie responded optimistically as he filled his plate watching the door for Rebecca to come in hoping he might get to talk to her before that.  
  
Unfortunately, Rebecca didn't show up until there was fifteen minutes left in lunch and could even get to where her friends were sitting. As she made her way down the table, Lennon and Jenna caught her to tell her about the Ravenclaw's excitement for Cathrine's party.  
  
The three girls stood there and talked until it was time for them all to head to Defense. Rebecca let out a sigh trying to figure out what she was going to get something to eat. Just then Adam walked up and handed her a sandwich as he started a conversation with her about dance lessons.  
  
Thankful that Adam was so thoughtful that she turned and left without even thinking that Charlie was waiting for her at the table. Charlie followed slightly hurt, but knew it was best not to take it personal and to try and talk to her at class.  
  
When Charlie walked into the classroom with the rest of his friends to see Rebecca sitting at her desk finishing her sandwich as Adam finished telling her something. Charlie took his sit and tried to start up a conversation with Rebecca only to have Professor Quirrell come in starting his lecture on what they needed to know for OWLs.  
  
After another period of note taking, Charlie got up looking for a reason to pull Rebecca aside. Unfortunately, Adam and Kevin walked up to whisk Rebecca away. It wasn't until later that Charlie found out from Sara who was found out from Audrey that Adam had talked Rebecca into starting to give the Ravenclaws dance lesson during their free period before dinner.  
  
Rebecca showed up for dinner and got caught by Cassie, who talked her ear of for about a half an hour. Russel finally gave her a break by coming up and making a "crisis" for her to go and see to at the Slytherin table.  
  
"Thank you," Rebecca muttered as she tried to past Russel.  
  
"It was nothing," Russel responded sort of staying in her way hoping she might talk to him a little longer.  
  
Rebecca pushed past him and plopped down at her seat to quickly eat. "I have to do that potion again," Rebecca explained slightly annoyed. As she shoveled more food in her mouth, the talk of the table went around about her tasks to say at the school and then went on to OWLs.  
  
Rebecca got up and left about fifteen minutes later only to get caught by Matt and a couple of his fellow Hufflepuffs just before she walked out the door. Luckily Charlie had gotten up with her to once again try and talk with Rebecca so he took the helm and talked to the Hufflepuffs while Rebecca slipped off to go work on her potion.  
  
"Man, everyone wants to talk to Becca. Wonder why?" Cathrine pondered as she watched her friend walk out of the room.  
  
Everyone looked at each other not sure what to say.  
  
"Well, you know how everyone loves her and how she is willing to help anyone," Bill answered for the group.  
  
Everyone shook their heads in agreement. It was the truth and they were all hoping that it would keep Cathrine from asking anymore questions. Charlie came back and sat down sort of disappointed that he couldn't talk to Rebecca, but after the conversation he had just had with Matt he got the hint that the other houses thought Rebecca was the main coordinator for the party.  
  
Cathrine was about to set forth and ask Charlie a bunch of question, but Aaron started to talk about getting her back in to quidditch form which Cathrine started to roll her eyes at since he wouldn't be part of the team next year anyways, but eventually thought her captain had a point. After all she hadn't been on her broom for a very long time.  
  
Woods winked at everyone all as he and Cathrine left to get her training set up to let them know that he would keep her preoccupied while the others were working on party plans.  
  
Charlie looked at Colin and said, "It looks like you can make it to the meeting tonight."  
  
Colin nodded and got up from the table with the others to go to the library to meet up with the other houses.  
  
"Is Rebeecca coming?" Lennon asked when the Ravenclaws came into the library and saw the Gryffindors were already there.  
  
"She might be later. Becca had to work on her potion," Charlie commented off hand as the Ravenclaws took seats.  
  
The Hufflepuffs came in and had the same question as did the Slytherin contingent which now consisted of not only Ryan, Jason, and Russel, but also Cassie. Sara tried to start the meeting, but there was a bit of a problem of getting everyone on the same page.  
  
Rebecca showed up an hour and a half later to find that nothing actually settle other than the party was going to be happening that Saturday and in the late afternoon. There wasn't a seat so Rebecca slid onto the floor next to Bill's chair and started to make notes.  
  
"Why doesn't each house take something and organize it?" Rebecca asked from her spot.  
  
Everyone looked around the table and nodded in agreement.  
  
"Well?" Rebecca called not seeing how everyone reacted.  
  
"Becca," Bill chuckled as he picked her up and set her on his lap so that she could see everyone.  
  
"Bill," Rebecca sighed rolling her eyes at the fact that he was treating her like a little kid as she set her paper on the table. "Okay, the way that I figure it is that we need food, entertainment, decorations, and something else..."  
  
Rebecca let out an exasperated breath trying to figure out what the other thing was.  
  
"Becca don't worry about it. We'll figure it out later," Bill whispered.  
  
"Okay. ... Matt, I was thinking since you always seem to bring up food that Hufflepuff would be in charge of that. Okay?"  
  
"So I get to plan the menu?" Matt eagerly asked causing everyone to laugh.  
  
"Yes," Rebecca slowly responded. "Jacquelyn will give you a few of items that are Cathrine's favorite which would be nice to have on the menu."  
  
"What should Ravenclaw be in charge of?" Jenna questioned almost as enthusiastic as Matt was.  
  
"Entertainment, if that is okay?"  
  
"That will be great," Lennon enthusiastically stated.  
  
"Good, work with the other houses to find out all the different talents so everyone can be involved. When it comes to Gryffindor... talk to... oh, James would you go around and see who all wants to perform?"  
  
James shook his head.  
  
"Cathrine will want Lauren to sing," Colin seriously stated.  
  
"Lauren will do it without a problem. I am sure Aaron will accompany her too."  
  
Rebecca let out a germane sigh so everyone knew that she was tired and wanted to get the meeting moving on.  
  
"What should Slytherin be in charge of?" Cassie giddily asked.  
  
"Decorations."  
  
"Any guidelines?" Ryan asked noticing Rebecca was getting more and more tired as the minutes passed.  
  
"Um, no. ... Other than no snakes."  
  
Ryan let out a laugh as Rebecca cringed. "Will do," he responded.  
  
"I'll help you get that set up," Sara volunteered.  
  
"Wonderful," Rebecca yawned. "Okay, let's get going."  
  
Rebecca got up to start everyone to leaving.  
  
Charlie got up and was ready to walk with Rebecca up to the common room so that they could maybe finally talk, but she was surrounded by different people from the group. As he waited to get Rebecca alone, Charlie couldn't help but notice her yawning every five seconds. Finally, Rebecca got everyone scooted off to there own common rooms and stared out the library with Charlie, Bill and the other Gryffindors.  
  
Just out side of the portrait the group stopped and split up to go in less conspicuously. Charlie and Rebecca were the last ones to go and Charlie was ready to start the conversation with her when he saw his girl who had been leaning up against the wall start to slide down it with her eyes closed.  
  
"Poor thing," Charlie muttered as he rushed to keep her from hitting the ground.  
  
As he walked into the common room and up to Rebecca's room he couldn't help, but think, 'I hope things settle down so that I can get a better chance at talking to Becca.'  
  
Unfortunately Charlie was wrong. For the next week, everytime he turned around and tried to talk to Rebecca she was surrounded by students from other houses. Her free time was dwindled to practically nothing because each house wanted dance lessons and there were some more meeting with the party committee. Bill seemed to have managed to square off some time with Rebecca that he and she wouldn't say what was going on to anyone. How Rebecca was doing everything and working on the wolfsbane potion was a mystery to Charlie. He had an inkling that she wasn't sleeping to well at night. There was a bit of frustration on Charlie's part, because he couldn't find a moment to get everything straightened out with Rebecca from their last row. But he knew there was no point and bringing it up with her, since she was stress out by other things.  
  
He decided that it was better to find a way to let her forget her stress and have some fun. It took til Friday night, but he did manage to think of the perfect thing for them to do and for him to have the perfect chance to ask her if she wanted to do it  
  
"Hey," Charlie said as he walked to Rebecca who was trying to get some studying in down in the common room. "Can you believe that tomorrow is the big day?"  
  
"Thanks goodness," Rebecca sighed looking truly grateful. "I am so glad."  
  
"Well, you did a good job of getting everyone set up."  
  
"Thanks, I am just glad that Cathrine hasn't figured out what was going on, even though she was getting really suspicious of things," Rebecca whispered as she gave Charlie a sweet smile.  
  
Charlie smiled back at her, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, and responded, "Yeah, I have to admit I am impressed on how many students kept her distracted while we were all running around getting things done. I think she thought it was funny that everyone was always around with you, but it was so easy to get her off your back."  
  
"I glad of that. I was sure she would have been asking me a million questions if I had more time to be around her. Good thing for Colin taking her out tonight to set up a prank and I guess the wolfsbane potion keeping me busy the last couple nights. ... Did I tell you that I managed complete another round of the potion that was expectable to Professor Snape?"  
  
"No, congratulations! How about we celebrate to more with a broom ride tomorrow morning?"  
  
"Oh, that would be great, but I can't."  
  
"Why not? I'll borrow Greg's broom and we can just have a great relaxing ride. Maybe even share a broom for a while."  
  
"Charlie, I can't. I wish I could but I can't."  
  
"Why not? Does it have to do with the party? You know that the others can handle setting everything up for the morning, right?" Charlie couldn't help but get a bit stern with her. She needed to let the others take care of the rest of the party and let herself relax.  
  
"It has nothing to do with the party and everything to do with me staying here next year!" Rebecca almost screamed.  
  
She gasped bringing her hand to her mouth. She didn't mean to get upset with him it just happened. Before Charlie could say anything she got up and walked to her room.  
  
Rebecca crawled into bed about ready to cry. She didn't understand why she couldn't keep her temper with him.  
  
All she could think was that she probably just threw the straw that broke the camel's back at Charlie, since she didn't know what was going on between them since they never got to talk about the incident in the owlery since Sunday. Rebecca fell asleep trying to think of what to say to make up for what she had just did. 


	27. Cathrine's Party

Rebecca woke up the next day early. A lot earlier than she really wanted, but she needed to get down to work on her third complete wolfsbane potion and if she wanted to get to Cathrine's party shortly after it started she needed to get a jump on the potion. She crept around the room getting ready trying not to wake anyone up. Unfortunately, Cathrine jumped at of bed when Rebecca came out of the bathroom.  
  
"What are you doing up?" the prankster questioned.  
  
"Oh, I, um, have to go down and work on the potion for the lawyers," Rebecca answered after the shock of seeing her friend up and going already.  
  
"Can I come with you?"  
  
"Um, sure, I guess. ... You aren't going to set up a prank, are you?"  
  
"Oh, no! I'll be good. It is just that it seems that it has been almost impossible to talk to you. Everyone keeps coming up to you and dragging you away. What is up with that?"  
  
Rebecca looked at her friend not wanting to lie at all, but not wanting to tell her the whole truth.  
  
"Well, let's just say I did a lot of dance lessons this week."  
  
"Are you serious?" Cathrine asked as she followed Rebecca out the door of their room.  
  
"Yep, I promised Harker that I would teach him and that made me have to teach all of Ravenclaw. Hufflepuff found out and they sweet talked me into giving them lessons. And well when Cassie found out, Slytherin got lessons, even though Ryan could have done it himself."  
  
"Wow, that and then having the potion, when did you get everything done for class?"  
  
"At night when everyone was asleep, I was in bed working on homework until I passed out."  
  
"Are you serious?" Cathrine commented as the girls continued down the stairs talking the whole way.  
  
The girls walked to the potion room catching up with each other. As Rebecca worked on her potions Cathrine got her talking about what was going on with her and Charlie.  
  
All the emotion that Rebecca felt the weekend before arose once again. She really hadn't had too much time with everyone talking to her on the party to dwell on the incident that started the complex row. It was sort of a blessing since she and Charlie hadn't been able to resolve anything. Of course, her being so busy was the reason why there had been no steps made towards an understanding.  
  
Rebecca continued to work on her potion hoping that her emotions wouldn't cause her to mess up the potion. She was so close to getting the task complete that she didn't want to start it over. Cathrine was determine to stay with her the whole time, which Rebecca was sure ended up being a blessing to everyone who was getting the party set up. Rebecca just wished that they could get onto a less emotional topic, but it didn't matter what they talked about everything seemed to come back to Charlie.  
  
Sara came in at lunch time with sandwiches to make sure that Cathrine was truly with Rebecca.  
  
"You guys want to go for a walk outside around three?" Sara asked as she got up to leave.  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca automatically answered knowing Sara's reason for the walk.  
  
"Well," Cathrine slowly responded.  
  
"Jacquelyn was coming, too," Sara quickly added.  
  
"Oh, so a girls' walk? I'm in."  
  
Cathrine couldn't help but smile at the idea that she could hang out with her girlfriends without the guys. Sara and Rebecca smiled knowing that they have a sure fired way to get Cathrine out to the party without arising suspicion in their friend.  
  
Rebecca finished her potion in the early afternoon. She was emotionally and mentally drained.  
  
As she cleaned up everything with the help of Cathrine, Rebecca couldn't help but feel nervous about having to see Charlie at the party. She didn't want to have another row with him, but felt as though it could happen with the emotional state she was in.  
  
Around three, Rebecca and Cathrine walked out of the potion room to meet Sara and Jacquelyn for their 'walk.'  
  
"Hey! Ready to go?" Sara asked as the two approached.  
  
"Yep!" Cathrine stated.  
  
"Let's go then!" Jacquelyn cheerful said barely able to contain her excitement.  
  
Sara pushed open the door and Jacquelyn walked out with Rebecca. They had a mission to give everyone warning that Cathrine was coming.  
  
As soon as Cathrine walked out and into view of the party she heard, "SURPRISE!!!!!!!!!!"  
  
"WHAT IN THE WORLD!" Cathrine exclaimed as she looked around to see the whole school standing around outside all looking at her with big smiles.  
  
Finally she noticed a banner that read 'GLAD YOU'RE UP, TYSON!'  
  
"Oh, you guys."  
  
Rebecca, Sara, and Jacquelyn rushed to give their friend a big hug as Cathrine sputtered out more amazed comments.  
  
"Hey Smiley! What about me? I helped too!" Colin said as he walked up to the girls. He then slyly added, "Well, me and the rest of the school."  
  
Cathrine laughed and took her boyfriend's hand to be lead more into the party followed by Sara and Jaquelyn.  
  
As Cathrine talked with her well wishers, Rebecca scanned the crowd looking for Charlie. It took her a while but she found him talking to Greg and Adam.  
  
She was about to head down and see if she could pull Charlie away from the group when she heard, "Accio punch!"  
  
CRASH!!!!!  
  
Sudden Rebecca felt a wave of wet sticky liquid cover her.  
  
"Rebecca, I am so sorry!" Matt called as he rushed up to her. "I guess I need more practice."  
  
"Repairo," Rebecca said pointing her wand at the glass bowl that had dropped all the punch on her and broke when it fell to the ground. "Don't worry about it. I am going to get out of these clothes and you can get more punch."  
  
Rebecca handed the bowl to Matt as she started back into the castle.  
  
"I have to go talk to Becca," Charlie said seeing her heading back into the castle as James walked up to group.  
  
"Uh, I hate to ask this, but could you wait until a little later," James asked looking hopeful.  
  
"Can I ask why?" Charlie restrained himself from following Rebecca.  
  
"Well, I need to Becca not to be emotional when..."  
  
"What?"  
  
"She been getting upset a lot lately when she talks with you and..."  
  
"You know if people would just let us talk she would have no reason to get upset."  
  
"Charlie," Bill said noticing that Charlie was getting a little hot under the collar. He had originally walked over to talk to Adam, but decided he had better get his brother calmed down so that there were no problems at the party.  
  
"What?" Charlie asked following his older brother.  
  
"I need some help," Bill said deciding to distract Charlie instead of making him talk about what was going through his head.  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Bill let out a sigh of relief glad that Charlie was already ten times calmer.  
  
"I have a surprise for Lennon, and I want to make sure that she is around when it happens so could you talk with Jenna and get her in on it?"  
  
"Sure, what are you doing so that I can let Jenna know what to look for?"  
  
"Um, just tell her that when I am over there," Bill pointed to a picnic table that a band made up of mostly Ravenclaws were close to, "to get Lennon to watch."  
  
"Will do!"  
  
Charlie went off to find Jenna, thankful that he had something to keep him from going back to the group of guys. He just couldn't understand why James would have been so keen needing Rebecca before he talked to her.  
  
'I guess I will find out later," Charlie thought as he approached Jenna.  
  
Rebecca made it up to her room, quickly changed into a new tee and pair of jeans after a quick shower, and headed right back out to the party. She was about to the outside door when she met up with Russel.  
  
"Did you get all the punch out?" he asked opening the door for her.  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca quickly answered as she practically ran out of the open door.  
  
"Well, have fun. Maybe we'll dance later."  
  
Rebecca rolled her eyes and walked a way hoping that he wouldn't make her have their date then.  
  
Before Russel could say anything, James came running up to them saying, "Hey Becca! Glad you are back now the entertainment can begin."  
  
"What?" Rebecca gave him a very confused look. "Why does the entertainment depend on me? Lennon was supposed to get everything going."  
  
"You'll see," James slyly said as he took her hand and led her down to the group that was standing around the party's band.  
  
As the two Gryffindors walked off, Dan came up to Russel.  
  
"You do know that you could have her on your arm all night if you wanted, or did you forget about your little agreement?" Dan asked. He had been wondering all week why Russel hadn't used his power to make it so that Rebecca could only dance with him.  
  
"Dan, Charlie is here," Russel simply stated. "He will watch us like a hawk and Rebecca would make sure she knew where he was at all times. I don't want that on the date. I want her to listen to me and she wouldn't at this."  
  
"Oh."  
  
"So what is going on down there?" Russel questioned as he headed towards the band.  
  
"From what I gathered there was a dance competition organized. The houses voted on who they thought were the best dancers and they are going to go up against each other and Professor Dumbledore will be judging."  
  
"Rebecca and James for Gryffindor then?"  
  
"Yep, and Ryan got Kirsta up to speed for us. It looks like Harker and Clearwater teamed up for Ravenclaw."  
  
"What about Hufflepuff?"  
  
"Um, not sure."  
  
"I guess it doesn't matter. Come on let's go watch."  
  
"James, what is going on?" Rebecca whispered as James drug her through the crowd to an open area where Ryan and Kirsta were standing with Adam, Miranda, Gabin Mansfield, a sixth year Hufflepuff with sandy brown hair, and Samantha Henson, a fifth year Hufflepuff with dark red curly hair.  
  
Before James could say anything, Lennon stepped on to the picnic table and announced, "Welcome everyone! Now that Rebecca came back we can start our dance competition."  
  
"What?!" Rebecca looked at James totally confused. "When was this arranged and when was it decided that I was going to be dancing with you?"  
  
"Well it came out of you giving the other houses dance lessons," James answered. "As for us the house voted when you were working your potion a couple nights ago. Each house only got one team, hence the vote. It was unanimous since we taught everyone in the house."  
  
Rebecca nodded looking at their competition as Lennon said, "Would Headmaster Dumbledore and our guest of honor please approach the stage?"  
  
As Professor Dumbledore approached with a smile, Cathrine walked up giving Lennon a bit of a strange look. She didn't quite see why she needed to go up.  
  
"These are the two judges of applause. That's right you all are going to judge the house teams by clapping for them after they show off their moves. And Cathrine and Professor Dumbledore will be responsible for telling us how got the loudest. Are the teams ready?"  
  
"Yep," responded all the competitors except for Rebecca. She was flattered that her house had chosen her and James to represent them, but she would have preferred if she could have talked to Charlie first so that her mind was completely clear.  
  
"Okay then, Maestro, take it away!" Lennon said to Kurt James who besides playing bass was leading the band made up of Aaron Woods on guitar, Jess Bookmyer, a fourth year dark haired Ravenclaw on drums, and Kris Tyson singing back up with Alise Belvidere. Kurt nodded and then counted off for the band to start playing.  
  
Sugar , ah honey honey  
  
You are my candy girl  
  
And you've got me wanting you.  
  
James and Rebecca waited a moment to get the beat and then James holding on to his partner's hands pushed Rebecca way from him. He then drew her into him lifting there arms and crossing so that Rebecca back was against his chest.  
  
The two then proceed to do some modified cha-cha steps to the rhytme the song. James sung into Rebecca's ear causing her to giggle slightly as she turned her head to get a side glance of him.  
  
Honey , ah sugar sugar  
  
You are my candy girl  
  
And you've got me wanting you.  
  
James lifted his arm causing Rebecca to spin to face him. Before she had a chance to stop her spin, Rebecca felt James lifting her other arm tell her to keep spinning. This time instead of bringing her right in front of him James took a side step so that Rebecca was right beside of him for a few more modified steps.  
  
I just can't believe the loveliness of loving you  
  
(I just can't believe it's true)  
  
I just can't believe the one to love this feeling to.  
  
(I just can't believe it's true)  
  
After letting go of Rebecca's hand that was the farthest from his body, James slipped his hand to Rebecca's waist so that he could give Rebecca a push so that she spun out a way from him.  
  
As Rebecca left James side she caught sight of the other teams. Everyone seemed to be doing okay for the moment though it was obvious that some teams were struggling. From the little that Rebecca saw it was obvious that Ryan and Kirsta were their only true competition, which coincided with what she had seen during the dance lessons.  
  
Ah sugar , ah honey honey  
  
You are my candy girl  
  
And you've got me wanting you.  
  
Ah honey , ah sugar sugar  
  
You are my candy girl  
  
And you've got me wanting you.  
  
Excerpt The Archies' Sugar Sugar  
  
James obviously realized what Rebecca had about their competition. With a quick look at each other and a nod, the two agreed to give the others a fighting chance. After all they could care less about winning. They just loved to dance. They kept up with their modified cha-cha steps and twirls, but didn't try any of the fancy dips and turns that the Gryffindor students were use to seeing them doing.  
  
Kirsta had always known that Rebecca and James were an unstoppable team and were bound to win. Even though she had given up on Russel she still didn't like Rebecca mostly out of jealousy so when the Gryffindor team was close enough, Kirsta stuck her leg out trying to making it look like she was doing an awkward step.  
  
Rebecca fell backwards as Kirsta gave her a smirk. James did a quick move and managed to catch his partner so that it looked like they were performing a dip. With his hand behind Rebecca's neck he lowered her a little more and then popped her up into his other arm for another dip that made it look like the two might kiss.  
  
"You ready to blow her away?" James whispered as he lowered Rebecca little more. She just nodded as he brought her up to let him know that she would follow what ever steps he wanted to do.  
  
It was only a matter of moments before the two had the eyes of everyone including the other couples staring at them. James led Rebecca through all the fancy steps that he knew would work into the rhytme of the song as well as the twist and turns they could do.  
  
James and Rebecca finished the song in the dip that gave the illusion they were going to kiss.  
  
As he brought her up, they both heard an eruption of applause and then the band started a new song with a salsa beat. Instantly, James spun Rebecca around several time as he got the beat so that as soon as he stopped Rebecca they could start their steps.  
  
Once again the two managed to steal the song with a breath taking finish where James was down on one knee with Rebecca sitting on his knee leaning back into his arms. They both smiled at each other happy with their performance, but secretly hoping that would be the last song in the competition.  
  
"Okay, folks, are you ready to vote?" Lennon announced causing the crowd to sort of moan that there wouldn't be more of James' and Rebecca's fancy moves, but they knew that there would be more time for dancing later and the two would make an encore appearance.  
  
As James and Rebecca got up and walked up to the stage to get judged, she got glance of Kirsta, who of course looked very perturbed. There was no shock there, but when Rebecca caught sight of Ryan's disgusted face she couldn't help but wonder what his problem was.  
  
James and Rebecca took their spots in the line up of the other dancers. Rebecca looked over to see that Ryan was glaring her. She almost immediately backed into James who just put his arm around her shoulders not even aware of the look, because it was probably the creepiest look Ryan had ever given her.  
  
Not wanting to see that look anymore, Rebecca started to scan the crowd to see if she could find Charlie. She saw Greg, Sara, Jacquelyn, and Colin standing in a group near the front of the crowd ready to cheer for their friends.  
  
A smile couldn't help but form on her face when she saw her friends' smiles, but when she realized that Charlie wasn't with them her smile faded.  
  
"Let's hear it for the Hufflepuff team of Samantha Henson and Gabin Mansfield!" Lennon announced which caused a polite round of applause for the team to ensue. Rebecca clapped with everyone else but was looking for Charlie even harder. "Good job, Team Hufflepuff. ... How about the Ravenclaw team of Adam Harker and Miranda Clearwater?"  
  
Rebecca followed everyone else with the applause as she caught sight of Bill who had Charlie next to him. Charlie was wearing a sober expression as he applauded for the Ravenclaw team.  
  
"Congrats, Team Ravenclaw. Now, let's hear it for the Slytherin team of Ryan Malfoy and Kirsta..."  
  
The Slytherin burst into applause trying to get their team to win before Lennon had a chance to finish her sentence.  
  
Charlie glanced over to see Rebecca looking at him. He wanted to smile her, but he knew what their conversation was going to be rough since so much time had passed. Rebecca felt as though she was going to cry. She hated when Charlie wasn't smiling and this time she was the reason that he wasn't smiling, which made it ten times worse.  
  
"Well done, team Slytherin!" Lennon announced breaking up the applause of the Slytherins and bring Rebecca back from her sulking about Charlie's lack of smile. "Now what did you all think of the Griffindor team of..."  
  
Lennon couldn't get anymore out because the crowd erupted in cheers and applause. James and Rebecca looked at each other shocked. They knew that they had pulled out a lot of their best moves, but they never expected a reaction like that.  
  
It took several minutes, but eventually Lennon managed to get everyone settled down with the help of Bill who walked around and calmed down the Gryffindors, especially Sara, Jacquelyn, Anna, and Chelsea.  
  
"Okay, Judges who received the most applause."  
  
Dumbledore and Cathrine whispered to each other for a second. With a twinkle in his eye, the headmaster nodded to Cathrine walked up onto the picnic table with Lennon.  
  
"James and Rebecca win!" she yelled barely unable to contain her excitement as the crowd erupted with cheers and clapping.  
  
James and Rebecca once again looked at each other shocked, not so much for the fact they won, but by how excited everyone was that they did. James put his other arm around Rebecca to give her a hug and kissed her temple as the crowd rushed the two to congratulate them.  
  
Though they both were enjoying the attention, Rebecca wasn't enjoying the fact that everyone closed in on her. James realized that Rebecca was getting very close to passing out and tried to get to her and usher her out of the crowd. Unfortunately, they were getting separated by the other students so James was having troubles getting to her.  
  
Rebecca slowly worked her way to the edge of the crowd trying to be as gracious as possible, but she was not sure how long she was going to be able to keep herself from fainting. She was almost to the edge when she saw another wave of people going at her.  
  
Just as Rebecca started to feel really dizzy and her vision began to blur, a hand came towards her from behind everyone. She grabbed for it without any hesitation. Rebecca didn't know who was attached to the hand, but felt better as she was led out of the group by the hand.  
  
After a moment of being out away from everyone, Rebecca regained her vision and saw that the hand that was holding hers belonged to Aaron.  
  
"You okay?" he asked as he walked her over to the band so that she could sit down without getting crowded around again.  
  
"Um, yeah, just felt really crowded in," Rebecca softly answered.  
  
"Understandable," Aaron said as he started to strum his guitar with a song that was very familiar to Rebecca.  
  
"When did you learn that?" Rebecca asked astonished that Woods was playing the song that she had sung what seemed so long ago.  
  
"After you sang it, I couldn't get it out of my head so I played around until I got it. I think Lauren was just about as obsessed with it, she kept telling me when I was messing up. I think she really wants to know what the words are. ... You want to sing? Give her a chance to learn the words."  
  
"Um, not right know, okay? I need to get some punch before I can sing anything."  
  
Aaron looked lightly disappointed, but he couldn't really argue with her. After all, Rebecca didn't say she wouldn't sing.  
  
Rebecca got up and started to walk towards the punch bowl when the band started up with another song. Even though she had no intention to dance anymore until she talked to Charlie, Rebecca found herself getting pulled on to the dance floor by Kevin. Without missing a beat Rebecca started a few steps with Kevin and managed to catch Audrey's hand to give to him to continue to dance with her.  
  
Rebecca walked away thinking that she might have a chance to make it to the punch bowl now, but Calloway was in her way. He did a bow that she couldn't help but sneer at. As quick as she could she spun out and grabbed Cassie's hand and got Calloway to switch out hands.  
  
She was closer to the punch bowl, but still got caught up with James standing right in front of her. The two instantly started to dance with the song until they were close enough to Jacquelyn and Rebecca could switch her spots.  
  
As James and Jacquelyn danced away, Rebecca walked to the edge of the dance area and headed start for the punch. She took a glass and started to drink.  
  
"Hey Rebecca congrats on your and James' win."  
  
Rebecca turned around to see Jenna coming towards her.  
  
"Thank you," she responded as Jenna picked up a cup of punch for herself.  
  
"It seems that everyone wants to dance with you."  
  
"Yeah, so it seems. I wish that I could get a moment to be around with Charlie. I haven't got to talk to him yet."  
  
Rebecca looked around and to see if she could find Charlie, but couldn't find him at all. Suddenly she saw Russel heading towards her with a smirk on his face that was unnerving.  
  
"Hey Jenna, I haven't seen you out on the dance floor yet."  
  
"Yeah it is cool to have a boyfriend in the band unless that is who you want to dance with."  
  
"I understand. I want to dance with Charlie and can't seem to get to him without someone grabbing me to dance."  
  
"Hey do you want me to take the next song for you?"  
  
"Would you?"  
  
"Yeah, I will step in and take all the guys that ask you out on the floor and step on their feet."  
  
"Except when Charlie asks me."  
  
Jenna rolled her eyes and reluctantly agreed. "Okay, everyone except Charlie is mine to dance with."  
  
"Rebecca, you did a wonderful job with James on the competition," Russel said as he reached the two girls who immediately stopped their conversation.  
  
"Thanks," Rebecca softly said moving away from him as she got some more punch.  
  
"So would you like to dance with me?"  
  
Before Rebecca could even start to say anything, Jenna jumped in with, "why don't you let Rebecca relax for a little bit and you and me can take a turn at stepping on each other feet?"  
  
Rebecca started to laugh at the sight of Russel's face.  
  
"You aren't that bad. Kurt just hasn't caught on how to lead yet."  
  
"Oh so that's my problem. Come on let's see if a new partner will improve it."  
  
Jenna didn't even wait for Russel to answer. She grabbed his hand and dragged him away from Rebecca and onto the dance floor.  
  
Relieved that she hadn't need to make up an excuse for her not to dance with Russel, Rebecca turned back to watch the couples dancing. It was quite impressive to see everyone able to find the beat of the song and try to fit the steps she taught them into their dancing.  
  
"Hey, Rebecca," Ryan said as he came to get some punch.  
  
"Hey," Rebecca responded with a big smile. Ryan didn't look nearly as disgruntled as he did after the competition. "You taking a break too?"  
  
"Um, sort of. I wanted a drink, but also I thought I would take the opportunity of you actually not being on the dance floor to see if I could squeeze in a dance with you before the guys start lining up."  
  
Rebecca took a deep breathe and was about to decline, but couldn't help but remember the look he had given her earlier and she really didn't want to see that again.  
  
"Okay," Rebecca said starting to walk out to the dance floor with Ryan close behind.  
  
They started to dance, but had a slight bit of a problem getting in sync with each other, but they got it finally and went around the dance floor.  
  
"So, you and James pulled out all the stops tonight," Ryan finally said with a perturbed tone in his voice.  
  
"Well not all of them," Rebecca defensively responded. "We still have a few up our sleeves."  
  
"You know it wasn't exactly fair for you too to do that." Rebecca looked at him shocked that his voice had raised so much.  
  
"What do you mean? Kirsta tried to trip me up so that we would lose. At least what we did was honest. Your partner was trying to win by trickery. Of course, I shouldn't be surprised after all Slytherins are known for using 'any means to reach their ends.'"  
  
Ryan face went red not from embarrassment, but from anger.  
  
"You know that holier than thou attitude doesn't fit you, Rebecca. Maybe you shouldn't hang out with Weasley anymore?"  
  
"I haven't had time to hang out with anyone this week so don't get on me."  
  
"You know it is moments like this when I don't like being your friend."  
  
"Well dear cousin, you know you do have a choice in the matter, don't you?"  
  
"Oh, I know and if it wasn't for my uncle, you would be at the mercy of having the Slytherins against you."  
  
"What does your uncle have to do with us being friends?" Rebecca asked through gritted teeth. She complete ignored the fact that Ryan had just threatened her. It was of little importance to her, but Lucius Malfoy having an interest in her being friends with his nephew was news of great significance.  
  
"He said that I need to be friends with you. Obviously, he is afraid of you falling into the wrong crowd."  
  
"Wrong crowd?" Rebecca parroted back starting to get really upset.  
  
"Does he still believe that Muggle's ways are beneath him?"  
  
"They are. That butler of yours poisoned your mind so that you don't see it."  
  
Rebecca instantly spun out and grabbed the first girl's hand that she could reach and exchanged places. She was not about to have Ryan bad mouth Wadsworth when her beloved butler had been nothing but generous with her and him.  
  
Rebecca walked to where Bill was standing still fuming about Ryan's comment.  
  
"Hey, Becca. What's the matter?" he asked as Rebecca turned around to see that she had switched out with Lennon.  
  
"OH, MY!!!!!!! I am so sorry, Bill. I didn't realize that it was Lennon who I grabbed. I was just so mad at him that I wanted to get away," Rebecca spurted out going from anger to guilt in a blink of the eye.  
  
"Becca, it's okay. What did he do to you?"  
  
Rebecca didn't hesitate she told Bill everything about Ryan's insult.  
  
"No wonder you weren't seeing straight," Bill commented when she finished.  
  
"I wish that I was though I wouldn't have got Lennon."  
  
"Don't' worry about it," Bill said as though he was indifferent to the whole matter. Rebecca looked at him curiously.  
  
"Are you still going to go through with it?"  
  
"Yep, might as well try. Besides can't let all those lessons you gave me go to waste." Bill gave her a playful wink. "Guess now is as good of time as any."  
  
He walked away leaving Rebecca alone, a blessing in disguise because she finally got a clear view of Charlie and he of her. The two started towards each other not wanting to miss another chance to talk.  
  
Rebecca kept glancing over to see if anyone who would stop her from talking to Charlie was heading her way. Luckily, all she saw was Bill talking to Kurt. All she could do was smile she knew what was going to happen.  
  
Charlie and Rebecca finally made it to each other, but neither seemed to know what to say. They to get there conversation started. Before they could continue to stare at each other for too long, Kurt's voice came over the crowd.  
  
"Okay folks the band is going to take a break." A lot of groans came from the students before he finished by saying, "But never fear the talent show potion of the evening. Mr. Bill Weasley will start it all off!"  
  
Jenna on cue made Lennon turn around and watch what Bill was doing. Bill got up, sat on the picnic table with Aaron's guitar, and started to play.  
  
Everyone stopped for a moment and just watched him. Some of the first, second, and third years came up close and took seats on the ground while the older students took a step closer wondering when Bill learnt to play the guitar.  
  
Yesterday, all my troubles seemed so far away  
  
Now it looks as though they're here to stay  
  
Oh, I believe in yesterday.  
  
Rebecca looked over at Charlie to see if they could sneak off and talk while Bill had everyone entranced. Unfortunately Charlie was fascinated by Bill playing the guitar just like everyone else. Rebecca appeared to be the only one indifferent on the matter. Of course she was the one to teach him so why would she have been shocked by it.  
  
Suddenly,I'm not half the man I used to be  
  
There's a shadow hanging over me  
  
Oh, yesterday came suddenly.  
  
Charlie took a few steps backwards and leaned up against the tree that Rebecca and him were standing under. Rebecca looked back, but decided that it would be best to stay where she was. If Charlie wanted her to be with him, he would have wrapped his arms around her. He had did it before they were going out after all.  
  
Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say.  
  
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday.  
  
'What a song Bill picked,' Rebecca thought as she scanned the crowd. 'I bet there are a lot of people who can relate to this song.' Russel glanced over to catch Rebecca's eye as she continued to look around. He appeared to be wishing for another time that was before the headache curse. Rebecca immediately turned to keep watching Bill who was looking right at Lennon as he continued to sing.  
  
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play.  
  
Now I need a place to hide away.  
  
Oh, I believe in yesterday.  
  
Lennon looked down to the ground not sure what to make of the song. It was one of her favorites, but it was hard to say what Bill was trying to tell her with the song. Was it he loved her enough to learn how to play the guitar and practiced her favorite song? Or was it an 'I think that it is time to break up' message?  
  
Why she had to go I don't know she wouldn't say.  
  
I said something wrong, now I long for yesterday  
  
'Maybe he is telling me it is my choice?' Lennon thought to herself as she looked up to see Bill still intensely looking at her. 'I am going to have to talk to him after this. We can't keep going on the way we are.'  
  
Yesterday, love was such an easy game to play.  
  
Now I need a place to hide away.  
  
Oh, I believe in yesterday.  
  
(The Beatles' Yesterday)  
  
Everyone started to clap when Bill finished. Lennon took a few steps closer to him and away from Ryan who she had been standing by. She looked amazed and confused all at the same time.  
  
Bill handed the guitar back to Aaron who said, "Lauren get up here. It's your time to sing."  
  
Lauren got up from the ground and timidly walked up to the make-shift stage as Bill walked over to Lennon and simply said, "It's your choice. Just let me know."  
  
Aaron helped Lauren up on the table and then sat down with his guitar.  
  
"So what will it be, kid?" he asked giving Lauren a huge smile.  
  
"Do the song you did at the Ball!" Colin shouted up to her.  
  
Lauren laughed and shook her head that she would do it.  
  
"Looks like we are taking requests folks," Wood called out to the crowd before he started to play.  
  
The sunlight on my shoulders  
  
The smile on my face  
  
My secret weapon, my favorite place  
  
The reason my heart skips a beat  
  
The broom that sweeps me off my feet  
  
As Lauren continued with the song Charlie walked up and took Rebecca's hand. He continued to walk and Rebecca curiously followed.  
  
As he led her into the dancing area, Charlie said, "Becca, I am sorry about all this."  
  
"You're not the only one," Rebecca whispered back feeling the tears well up as Charlie turned to face her to start dancing.  
  
"Hey, there is no reason to cry. It was just a busy week and we just had a problem having time to straighten out our misunderstanding," Charlie softly said as he wipe a few stray tears away.  
  
"But I did kiss him, after..."  
  
"I know."  
  
Rebecca looked up at Charlie and wonder if that was it. If they were over, it was because of that stupid kiss.  
  
"Did you mean to kiss him?"  
  
"No," Rebecca timidly said feeling a few more tears come down her face.  
  
"Okay then, know that we have that established, did you mean to slap me?"  
  
"No," Rebecca replied completely confused by the question.  
  
"So it was an accident?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"Well there you have it, you didn't mean to kiss him so it was an accident," Charlie said drawling her in closer to him trying to placate her nervousness. He could just sense that she feared the worst would come out of the conversation. "I know you're not going to do it again, so don't worry about it."  
  
"Oh, Charlie, I am so sorry about everything."  
  
"Me, too, Becca. Me, too."  
  
Charlie and Rebecca hugged each other and stood there silently until Lauren announced up on the stage, "I think Becca should sing!"  
  
Rebecca's head jerked up as she heard several comments follow.  
  
"Yeah!"  
  
"That would be great!"  
  
"Come on Becca, sing!"  
  
"Yeah sing for me, please!" Cathrine begged.  
  
Charlie pushed her out of his arms towards the stage, pretty much telling her that he wanted her to sing just as bad as everyone else.  
  
Rebecca took a deep breathe and tried to figure out what song she would sing as she headed up to the makeshift stage wiping the tears out of her eyes. She felt so much better and there was on need for her to be crying anymore.  
  
Aaron took Rebecca's hand to help her up the table and asked if she would do the song they were talking about, but Rebecca declined. She loved the song, she always would, but it brought up the memories of Wadsworth singing it to her or them singing it together and those memories made her smile and cry all at the same time. Rebecca just didn't want those emotions stirred right then. After all she had had enough emotional moments for the week. "Hey Sara! Why don't we do a duet?" Rebecca asked as she turned around up on the picnic table thinking that maybe she could keep Aaron from being too disappointed with her. Before Sara could answer, Greg pushed her towards the stage. Sara joined Rebecca up on the table and the girls quietly discussed what they were going to sing and how they were going to do it. After a moment, they turned to the band and said something to them. As the girls turned back to their audience, the music started.  
  
REBECCA: Throw the covers off my head  
  
Shake my body out of bed  
  
Stretch my arms up, I look out the window  
  
Greg walked over to where Charlie was happy to see Charlie with a smile on his face. James, Jacquelyn, Colin and Cathrine joined their two friends.  
  
SARA: The sun is rising, birds are singing  
  
I am greeted by the gift of another new morning  
  
BOTH: And I know tonight as my head hits the pillow  
  
I will ask myself as I look out the same window  
  
"Hey do you thing this would be a good time for Firework?" Colin whispered to Greg, James and Charlie.  
  
The three boys looked around to see that no one was dancing, but intensely watching and listening to Rebecca and Sara.  
  
"Don't see why not. Do you need help?" Charlie whispered back.  
  
"Nope, got everything under control." Colin slipped away from the group and disappeared in a flash.  
  
At the end of the day {BOOM}  
  
Did I laugh and dance enough  
  
Did I tell my friends how much they really mean to me  
  
At the end of the day {BOOM}  
  
Did I really push myself  
  
Or was I too afraid  
  
To give my heart away  
  
At the end of the day {BOOM}  
  
Colin set off a few more well timed fireworks that had the audience captivated. Rebecca and Sara both watched the bursts of colors in the sky with everyone else. Of course, they had to fight to keep focused on that they were singing.  
  
SARA: I wanna learn I wanna love  
  
Take some big chance and just trust  
  
In my instincts and my intuition  
  
REBECCA: If I win or if I lose  
  
Any road that I choose  
  
I will drive all the way  
  
BOTH: I wanna know tonight as I fall fast asleep  
  
I am one day closer to who I wanna be  
  
At the end of the day {BOOM}  
  
Did I laugh and dance enough  
  
Did I tell my friends how much they really mean to me  
  
At the end of the day {BOOM}  
  
Did I really push myself  
  
Or was I too afraid  
  
To give my heart away  
  
At the end of the day {BOOM}  
  
To never forget what matters most  
  
To never have to answer no  
  
When I ask myself  
  
REBECCA: Did I laugh and dance enough  
  
Did I tell my friends how much they really mean to me...  
  
BOTH: At the end of the day {BOOM}  
  
Did I laugh and dance enough  
  
Did I tell my friends how much they really mean to me  
  
At the end of the day {BOOM}  
  
Did I really push myself  
  
Or was I too afraid  
  
To give my heart away  
  
At the end of the day {BOOM}  
  
(Kellie Coffey's At the End of the Day)  
  
Everyone stood up and cheered when the girls finished. Both bowed and started to get off the make shift stage. Charlie and Greg rushed forward to help the Rebecca and Sara down. There were several complaints voiced that the girls wouldn't be singing another song. Luckily, Lennon had already lined up other acts including her singing with the band.  
  
Charlie and Rebecca danced a few more dances and then walked away from the crowd so that they could have some time alone. They hadn't had a chance all week and now that they had made up it looked like no one would be looking for either of them or at least that is what they thought.  
  
"Where is Miss Carter?" came a voice over the crowd.  
  
Rebecca and Charlie instantly stopped walking and turned around to see Professor Snape looking over the crowd of students.  
  
After a quick worried look at Charlie, Rebecca started back towards the teacher, not letting go of Charlie's hand as she went. She finally let go when she was about ten feet from the teacher. Rebecca walked up and talked to Snape unaware that the whole school was staring at her back.  
  
After a few moments, everyone heard Rebecca say, "REALLY?!"  
  
Snape nodded his head.  
  
Rebecca said a quick thank you and then turned around quickly ran towards Charlie. She surprised him when she jumped into his arms knocking him off balance causing them to tumble to the ground.  
  
Greg, Sara, Cathrine, Colin, James, and Jacquelyn pushed their way to where Charlie and Rebecca were to hear Rebecca say, "I DID IT!"  
  
"What?" Charlie asked sitting up with Rebecca still in his arms.  
  
"I got the last potion done to Snape's standard. I am done with that part of the stipulation!"  
  
"OH, BECCA THAT IS WONDERFUL!"  
  
Charlie gave her a huge hug and kissed her as their other friends looked at each other and then rushed the two to give Rebecca a big group hug.  
  
The eight friends sat on the ground laughing with each other. The girls gave Rebecca individual hugs and the guys gave her a kiss on each her cheeks. Bill came and gave her a bear hug from behind as well as a kiss on her check. Lauren ran over and about knocked Bill and Rebecca over when she went to hug her friend.  
  
"Can we get in on what is going on?" Ryan asked agitated that he didn't know what they were celebrating.  
  
Rebecca looked at him and as she and her friends got up she simply answered, "No."  
  
The group of Gryffindors walked of to the side to continue there celebration of Rebecca's feat.  
  
Ryan watched as Adam walked over and found out what was going on as did Matt. He fumed at the fact that Rebecca would tell anyone else what is going on. Ryan had no clue that his little comment about Wadsworth had hurt Rebecca so much.  
  
"Hey Lennon!" Ryan said forceful as he grabbed her fore arm that caused her to look him shocked. "Go up and find out what is up with Rebecca for me."  
  
Lennon gave him a weird look and then went off with no intention of coming back. She spent the rest of the night with the Gryffindors to teach Ryan a lesson.  
  
The party continued until about midnight. And when Colin set off the last firework, Professor Dumbledore stood up and announced, "It was a wonderful party! Cathrine we are all glad that you are awake and out of the infirmary! However, I think that it is time for us all to go in!"  
  
Moans softly filled the air, but everyone started towards the castle tired.  
  
Bill walked up to Charlie and Rebecca with a sleeping Lauren in his arms.  
  
"She went out when I took her out for that one dance. Poor kid had a heck of a time avoiding Harvey," Bill explained after seeing the concerned look on Rebecca's face.  
  
"What did Harvey do to her?" Charlie asked knowing that Rebecca would want to know as well.  
  
"He kept bugging her to dance with him, but also to sing again I guess. I have to admit I would have liked to hear her sing again, but I was around the last time he came up to her and it was sort of creepy the way he did it. That is why I took her out on the dance floor so that he would leave her alone."  
  
The three walked in discussing the whole Lauren and Harvey situation.  
  
After putting Lauren into bed, the three said good night and headed to their own beds, but not before Charlie gave Rebecca a slow, sweet kiss.  
  
Rebecca skipped up to her room ecstatic that she and Charlie were back to normal. 


	28. Surprises

Rebecca got to her room and changed thankful that it was Saturday night and she could sleep in. The other three girls finished getting ready and climbed into their own bed.  
  
"Thank you all for your hard work to get that party off," Cathrine yawned as she plopped back onto her pillows.  
  
"Glad you liked it," stated Jacquelyn.  
  
"You're very welcome!" Sara added.  
  
"It was our pleasure!" Rebecca cheerful responded as she walked to her bed. She was about to climb in and turn out the last light when she saw a letter on her pillow.  
  
Rebecca got up in her bed and ripped open the note to see that it was another was from Stacy.  
  
Dear Rebecca,  
  
Hey Girl! Sorry to hear about your little run in with Charlie. You must feel horrible. I was talking the whole situation over with Kerry and Kalie and we want to talk with you. Go to your fireplace Saturday night at 1 a.m. (Yes I realize that it is technically Sunday morning, but I thought it might be confusing if I said it that way). We'll talk to you then.  
  
Later,  
  
Stacy  
  
Rebecca looked at her watch and say that it was getting really close to one. She grabbed her sweat shirt and headed out the door telling the others that she would be back in a bit though she was sure that they were already dozing off so didn't care that she was leaving since she shut off the lights as she left.  
  
Just as the clock in the common room struck one, Rebecca hit the last step. She walked around the couch to get to the fireplace.  
  
"STACY!" Rebecca exclaimed when she realized that her dear friend's head was in the fire.  
  
"Hey, girl!" Stacy responded having a huge smile on her face. "How are you doing?"  
  
"I'm fine. How are you?"  
  
"Oh, I'm fine. I think I finally got use to not hanging out with Colleen and Gwen."  
  
"Oh, yeah. I am so sorry to hear that..."  
  
"Hey don't worry about it Kerry and Kalie are awesome to hang out with and they helped me figure this whole thing out." Stacy turned her head and said "Come on guys get in here too."  
  
"You cut your hair?!" Rebecca said since she got a good look at Stacy's black hair was about an inch above her shoulders now.  
  
"Yeah, you like it?"  
  
"Love it!"  
  
"Hey Rebecca!" Kalie and Kerry said together as their heads appeared in the fire.  
  
"Hey Kalie! Hey Kerry! How are you?"  
  
"Oh, good other than getting ready for O.W.L.s," Kerry stated.  
  
"Yeah. I think I am going to go bonkers trying to remember everything," added Kalie.  
  
"So what is up with you and Charlie now?" Stacy asked.  
  
Rebecca looked at her and after she said that everything was fine now she went into the details of their fight and everything that happened during the week to keep them from talking.  
  
"So it took until the party for you to actually slow down enough to talk to him?" Kalie asked to clarify what she had just heard.  
  
"Yeah, I know it sounds pathetic, but..." Rebecca started.  
  
"But you are super busy there like you were here," Stacy finished Rebecca's sentence.  
  
"Yeah." Rebecca slightly blushed she had forgotten how active she was when she was at Beauxbaton.  
  
"How was the party?" Kerry asked sensing that Rebecca wanted to get the subject off of her lack of free time.  
  
"It was a blast. Everyone enjoyed it. There were not major conflicts except..."  
  
"What?" all three heads asked.  
  
"Ryan and I had a bit of a run in," Rebecca started and then with one look from Stacy that told her to precede, she quickly told the whole story about what Ryan said to her.  
  
"He's as bad as Ben!" Kalie indignantly stated as Kerry just shook her head when Rebecca finished.  
  
This sent Stacy into a little monologue about how things were at Beauxbaton and her take on Ben's and Ryan's similarities.  
  
"I have compared the two before," Rebecca explained as Stacy looked a little guilty. "What?"  
  
"Ben asked about you today," was all Stacy said.  
  
"Did you tell him that if he wanted to know he should have gotten a hold of me himself."  
  
"No, but I'll let him know that when he trys to get information out of me again."  
  
"What is up with guys thinking that it is cool to order girls around?"  
  
"You never did like that," Stacy chuckled.  
  
"We better get going," Kerry whispered to Stacy.  
  
"Yeah, it's getting late and we are going to have to sneak back to our rooms," Kalie quietly added.  
  
"Sorry Rebecca we do have to go," Stacy said looking really sad at the idea.  
  
"That's okay. I need to get to sleep too. ... Can we do this again?"  
  
Stacy's face lit up as did Kalie's and Kerry's at Rebecca's suggestion.  
  
"We'll send you and owl to let you know when we can get it all together," Stacy replied with a tired smile.  
  
"Wonderful! Can't wait! Thank you so much for figuring this out! Night, girls!"  
  
"Night, Rebecca!" the three girls responded and the disappeared from the fire.  
  
Rebecca sat there for a moment wishing that Stacy, Kalie, and Kerry were at Hogwarts with her. She loved her friends at Hogwarts, but each of her good friends were so different from each other that she couldn't help but to want to be around them all the time.  
  
After about fifteen minutes, she got up to go to bed not realizing how tired she really was.  
  
Rebecca got up the next morning exhausted. She looked at her clock to see that it was not quite ten.  
  
There was a knock on the door just as Rebecca was about to drift back to sleep. None of the other girls stirred and since she was the closest to the door Rebecca got up begrudgingly, grabbed her hooded zip-up sweatshirt, and answered the door.  
  
"Good morning, Beautiful!" Charlie said with a big smile on his face when Rebecca opened the door.  
  
"Morning Handsome," she yawned.  
  
"Still tired?" He tucked a strand of her hair behind her ear.  
  
"Yeah," Rebecca started as she walked out of the room and shutting the door. She told Charlie about her surprise conversation with Stacy, Kerry and Kalie.  
  
"That is so cool! They obviously used the floo network, but I didn't know that the school's fireplaces were connected," Charlie said as he and Rebecca headed down the steps to the common room. "Are you going to do it again?"  
  
"Yeah, hopefully."  
  
"Do you think that I might interrupt one time for a few minutes so that I could meet the famous Stacy?"  
  
"Don't see why not. Stacy would love to met you and be flattered that you asked first."  
  
"Good let me know when you want me to be around."  
  
They both took a seat on the couch.  
  
"So what do you want to do today?" Charlie asked as he wrapped his arms around Rebecca.  
  
"Sit here all day," she yawned causing Charlie to chuckle at her.  
  
"You mean that you want fall asleep on me."  
  
"Mmm- hmmm."  
  
Rebecca snuggled a little closer to him. Charlie looked down and saw that she was almost back to sleep.  
  
"Becca, how about we stay like this til lunch and then we come back here and study?"  
  
"Okay."  
  
Charlie chortled slightly knowing that Rebecca absentmindedly respond to him.  
  
Around lunch time, Greg and Sara came down to the common room to see Rebecca and Charlie sleeping on the couch. They smiled at each other and went to wake them up.  
  
As they got closer they noticed another bump on the couch. It was Lauren who was sleeping on the other side of Charlie.  
  
She had settled herself on the couch with Charlie and Rebecca shortly after Rebecca drifted off to sleep. Lauren talked to Charlie about how Harvey was acting towards her before she fell back to sleep. Charlie nodded off when both of his arms started to tinkle from lack of movement, but he thought both girls looked so sweet sleeping that he couldn't bear to do anything that might wake them up, so he rested his head on Rebecca's and went to sleep.  
  
"Hey, mate," Greg quietly said as he pushed Charlie's head to wake him up. "Two girls?"  
  
Charlie looked up and chuckled at him.  
  
Deciding to ignore Greg's comment, Charlie yawned and then said, "You ever think that you would find yourself living for the little moment like this one?"  
  
Charlie looked at Rebecca, then at Lauren and then back to Rebecca. Both looked so peaceful and it gave him a wonderful feeling that he didn't want to lose.  
  
"Remember when the last thing we wanted to do was hang out with girls?" asked Greg with a smirk as he wrapped his arms around Sara wanting a little moment like Charlie was having, but with his girlfriend, of course.  
  
"Yeah it was just last summer," Charlie joked causing him and Greg to bust up laughing waking Rebecca and Lauren up.  
  
After a few minutes, five students got up headed down to lunch. Down in the great hall the talk was all about the party the night before. Lauren stuck pretty close to Charlie and Bill during the meal. Rebecca didn't realize it at the time, but Lauren was truly afraid of Harvey and didn't think he would stay way if she was with her usual friends of Aisha, Carolyn, Oliver, and Percy so she was staying as close as possible to people that the Slytherin might fear.  
  
It took several weeks, but eventually Rebecca noticed then she and Charlie were down at the library studying and Lauren ran over to them and started on her homework. It was actually the fact that Lauren didn't ask for help all night that what made Rebecca pull her aside when they were walking up to Gryffindor Tower.  
  
"He just has no fear about coming around me," complained Lauren. "Harvey has tried to drag me aside when I was walking with Percy and when I was going to lunch with Oliver. I won't go around Sean, because Harvey walks over and Sean disappears leaving me to fend for myself."  
  
"Oh, sweetie, I am so sorry to hear about that. Don't worry we only have a couple more weeks of school and then your will get a break from him," Rebecca comfortingly stated, but Lauren didn't look too convinced so Rebecca continued, "but until then stay close to one of the guys and they watch over you."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"Oh, yeah. I'll talk to them about it. We might have to figure something out though, with Bill having NEWTs and then us will OWLs we might have to do shift, but don't worry you'll be fine."  
  
Rebecca plopped down on the couch as Lauren said thank you and went up to bed.  
  
A.J. showed up a minute later and Rebecca set out to get him to help Lauren out. Instantly, A.J. took over he went off to organize the older guys of Gryffindor and to work out a schedule for his idea of someone walking Lauren to and from class.  
  
As she went back to the couch to sit with Charlie, Rebecca couldn't help but laugh at A.J.  
  
"What's so funny?" Charlie asked when Rebecca nestled into his arms still chuckling.  
  
Rebecca explained about A.J. and then said, "I may be really tired, but the way he just took over was hilarious. I think I might have created a monster."  
  
"Well, we will find out, won't we?" Charlie said starting to laugh.  
  
"So when is Stacy and the others suppose to show up in the fire tonight?"  
  
"Around midnight," Rebecca responded as Anna walked in and plopped in a chair by the two.  
  
"How's studying going?" Charlie asked.  
  
"It's going. ... Have you seen A.J.?" Anna asked tiredly.  
  
"Um," Rebecca almost started laughing again. "Sorry, but I talked to A.J. about a problem Lauren was having and he just took over. He is gathering up recruits to help her out."  
  
Anna just sweetly smiled hearing of her boyfriend's good deed and said, "Gotta love him. ... I am going go find him and then go to bed. ... Night, you two."  
  
"Night, Anna," Charlie and Rebecca said together.  
  
As Anna got up, Rebecca started to yawn.  
  
"You going to make it to make it to midnight?" Charlie asked pulling her even closer to him.  
  
"Tonight, yes, but closer to OWLs maybe not."  
  
Charlie laughed and the two continued to talk until Stacy appeared and squealed, "You must be Charlie!"  
  
Rebecca and Charlie instantly jumped up and settled by the fire as Kalie and Kerry came into view. Charlie stayed for about ten minutes and then left the girls to talk by themselves.  
  
This became the routine for when ever the girls planned to talk. Rebecca was thankful that Charlie stayed up with her, because there were nights when she didn't think she could make it to the appointed hour when she would feed off of the adrehline she felt when she was talking to her Beauxbatons friends, but with Charlie she always did.  
  
Then two nights before OWLs were to begin, when she and Charlie were waiting to talk to Stacy, Kerry, and Kalie, Rebecca fell asleep on the couch studying.  
  
Charlie decided to let her sleep and wake her up when the girls showed up. What he didn't count on was that he, himself, would drift off while reading up on the Care of Magical Creatures.  
  
Bill came downstairs about a quarter til midnight to see Rebecca curled up down at one end of the couch and Charlie sprawled out on the other end with one of his hands on Rebecca's socked feet and a book on his chest.  
  
"Charlie? Becca?"  
  
He nudged both of them trying to get them a wake. Finally after several minutes, he picked Rebecca up and tried to wake Charlie up again.  
  
When Charlie only murmured something incoherently, Bill said more to himself than anyone else, "Come on Becca, let's put you into bed and then I will get Charlie up and moving."  
  
Charlie woke up a few moments later very confused on when he looked over to see Rebecca had disappeared.  
  
"Hey Charlie!" he heard from the fire.  
  
"Oh hey, Stacy. Um, I don't know where Becca went."  
  
"What?" Stacy started to laugh.  
  
"I lost her when I fell asleep. I am sure she will be back. So, what going on?"  
  
Charlie watched as Stacy abruptly left the fire.  
  
"Stacy?!"  
  
Suddenly a head of a white blonde guy came into view.  
  
"Who are you?" the boy forcefully asked.  
  
"I'm Charlie, and you are?" Charlie coolly responded. He had an inkling of who the intruder was, but didn't want to jump to conclusions.  
  
"I am Ben. Where is Becky?"  
  
"Well, as I was telling Stacy before you so rudely interrupted, I don't know."  
  
"Some boyfriend you are," Ben scoffed with an evil smirk on his face.  
  
"'Bout time you got up you lazy bum!"  
  
Charlie quickly glanced at the stairs to see Bill walking towards him and then back at the blonde that was giving him the evil eye.  
  
"Do you know where Becca is?" Charlie asked as he heard Stacy say, "Ben, get out! I was talking with Charlie."  
  
"Yeah, I took her up to bed. I couldn't get either of you to respond so I got her first. ... Who's that?"  
  
"Ben..."  
  
"Ben, get out of the fire!"  
  
For an instant Ben disappeared. When he got back he had foul scowl on his face. Both Bill and Charlie looked at each other wondering why the guy had left.  
  
"Um, can I talk to Stacy?" Charlie finally asked.  
  
"She's indisposed at the moment. Can I talk to Becky?"  
  
Charlie was about to tell Ben that Rebecca was indisposed, when he heard, "How did I get in my bed?"  
  
Bill, Charlie and Ben's head turned toward the steps to see Rebecca coming down the steps.  
  
"My bad, Becca I didn't know what you were up to and I thought I would be nice and not wake you," Bill quickly explained.  
  
Rebecca sweetly smiled at him trying to relieve him from feeling to guilty. It was a very sweet thing to do even if it didn't have the best timing this time around.  
  
"Becky!" Ben called to her as Rebecca walked over to Charlie.  
  
"Ben?"  
  
"Yeah! Hey kid how are you doing?"  
  
Rebecca didn't even think to answer him; she found her self quizzing him.  
  
"What are you doing?"  
  
"Stacy said that she had talked to you by fire."  
  
"Where's Stacy?"  
  
Ben gave her a harsh look, but refused to say anything else. Rebecca turned and looked at Bill and Charlie.  
  
The look on their face told her something had happened to Stacy. If she could get off the right questions, Rebecca knew that she could get what the boys knew without them blurting it out and getting Ben mad at them.  
  
She knew Ben wouldn't like it if the guys told on him, and likewise Ben knew that Rebecca expected honesty out of her friends and probably had a higher standard for her boyfriend.  
  
Before Rebecca could get a question off, Ben reached up from the fire and grabbed Rebecca's hand and pulled her into the fire.  
  
"Ben!" Rebecca cried as she fell into the fire.  
  
Luckily Charlie and Bill managed to grab onto her legs and kept her from crashing into the common room where Ben and Stacy were. Rebecca tried to twist her arm out of Ben's grip, but he grabbed her other arm.  
  
"What are you doing?" she finally yelled at him.  
  
"You need to get back here and act normal," Ben screamed back.  
  
"How would you know how I act? You have never written or talked to me since I left."  
  
Rebecca caught sight of Stacy's black hair as she struggled to get free. She scanned down to see that her friend appeared to be unconscious.  
  
Immediately she stopped almost dead in her tracks.  
  
"W-what did you do to Stacy?" Rebecca's voice was very shaky.  
  
Ben's face softened slightly.  
  
"I just did the sleeping spell on her. She'll be fine."  
  
Rebecca felt Charlie grab around her waist as Bill took a hold of both of her legs.  
  
"Don't you ever do that again!" Rebecca warned Ben as she twisted her arm free as Bill and Charlie pulled her back into the Gryffindor common room. The three crashed into the couch.  
  
"Becca, you okay?" Charlie and Bill asked in unison.  
  
Rebecca didn't say anything. She looked at the fire, grabbed the boy's hands and started to drag them quickly up the steps. She didn't want to be there if Ben tried to go back into the fire.  
  
When they were half way up the steps, Rebecca broke down and sat on the steps telling Charlie and Bill what she saw and what Ben said. After a half an hour, the three finally went to their own rooms, thankful that they could sleep in the next day. 


	29. OWLS

Unfortunately, none of the three slept that well. Rebecca jumped at every little sound thinking that Ben had came through the fire while Bill and Charlie walked in and out of their room every time they thought someone was coming up the stairs. More than one they scared each other.  
  
Finally about 7 am, after tossing and turning all night, Rebecca crawled out of her bed and walked down the step. She was unaware that the little noise that she had made alerted Charlie and Bill. Of course they both thought it was the other on the steps again. Bill looked at his clock and decided not to scare his brother again.  
  
Charlie decided it was time to get out of bed even if it was just Bill again. He headed down the steps and found Rebecca walking towards the portrait.  
  
"Becca?" Charlie said to get her attention. Instantly she turned around to see him and ran right towards him.  
  
"Hey it's okay," Charlie tried to comfort her as he wrapped his arms around her.  
  
"No it's not. He cursed Stacy." Rebecca looked like she was going to cry.  
  
"I know. ... I would love to punch him for doing it, but let's just be thankful that we were able to get you back through the fire without incident."  
  
Rebecca just nodded her head. She was thankful for the guys catching her, but until she knew that Stacy was okay she wouldn't be able to stop worrying.  
  
The two headed down to breakfast to find that they were the only ones up. They took advantage of the privacy to have little date. Charlie and Rebecca laughed, ate, and talked as other students filtered in. After a certain point the two looked at each other and decided that they wanted some more alone time.  
  
"You up for a walk?" Charlie asked Rebecca as James, Jacquelyn, Colin, Cathrine, and Sara came to join them.  
  
"Yeah, that would be nice."  
  
Charlie and Rebecca got up and walked out the door just as Greg was coming in with Lauren.  
  
"You guys, leaving already?" he yawned.  
  
"Yeah, we have been up for a while," Rebecca responded as Greg continued to yawn. "What's the matter? Didn't you sleep well last night?"  
  
"No, someone decided to keep opening up the door." Greg looked pointedly at Charlie.  
  
"Sorry mate, but I was making sure that someone wasn't creeping around."  
  
Rebecca looked at Charlie curiously and whispered, "Ben?" Charlie just nodded his head.  
  
"Wish I would have known that. I might have slept better," Rebecca joked causing her and Charlie to start to chuckle.  
  
Greg looked at the two intrigued while Lauren looked a little confused.  
  
"Lauren, why don't you go ahead to the table?" Greg said pushing the first year towards the side of the table that was the farthest from the Slytherin table.  
  
Lauren would have protested except she saw that A.J. and Anna were looking at her and both waved her over. As soon as she was out of ear shot, Rebecca and Charlie quickly explained the happening of the prior night.  
  
"Oh, no wonder you both look so tired," Greg said when they finished.  
  
"Well I better, let you to go so that you can go back to bed."  
  
"Actually, I want to go to the owlery and write Kerry and Kalie," Rebecca stated looking at Charlie as if she was asking permission from him as Greg walked away.  
  
"I think that would be a good idea. Mind if I go with you?" Rebecca sweetly smiled at Charlie silently letting him know that she was grateful he asked. Charlie grabbed her hand and started towards the stair with a "Let's go then."  
  
"REBECCA CARTER!"  
  
Immediately Rebecca and Charlie turned around to see Ryan and his gang heading at them.  
  
After rolling her eyes, Rebecca replied, "What is Malfoy?"  
  
She had been annoyed with him since Cathrine's party and couldn't get past what he had said about Wadsworth.  
  
"My uncle wants you to send him an owl."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"He wants to know where get a hold of you this summer."  
  
Rebecca scrunched up her face. "NO!"  
  
"What?" Ryan took a few steps closer to her to try and intimidate her.  
  
"I am not going to tell him where I am this summer. He never knew before and he doesn't need to know now." "That's what you think."  
  
"And what is that suppose to mean?"  
  
"It means that he always was able to tell me where you were before I got a letter from you."  
  
Rebecca took a step back as Charlie looked between her and Ryan, who were glaring at each other.  
  
'If looks could kill, I think both of them would be on the floor dead,' Charlie thought.  
  
After a few tense moments, Rebecca finally hissed, "If that's the truth, then there is no reason that I have to tell him or you anything.  
  
Without even waiting for Ryan to try to respond to that she dashed up the steps to the owlery Charlie close behind.  
  
After having written Stacy a supper long letter and making Charlie draft letters to Kalie and Kerry, Rebecca walked out clinging tightly to Charlie. She was just in a mood where she didn't want him to leave her side. Maybe it was because of her little spat with Ryan or because of Ben trying to drag her through the fire, perhaps a combination of both made her feel uneasy and Charlie made her feel secure again.  
  
"You okay?" Charlie asked when Rebecca almost made them fall down the steps.  
  
"Um, I think I am, but..." Rebecca started but didn't know how to finish.  
  
"A little unnerved about what happened last night?"  
  
"Yeah, I just don't like the idea that he was able to get me. I mean, if he can get me to be there does that mean that he can come here?"  
  
"Wish we could establish that. ... Come on let's study."  
  
Rebecca nodded in agreement and then suddenly got wide eyed. Charlie had one guess what got her.  
  
"How about we stay way from the fire?"  
  
Rebecca smiled and then stopped. Charlie looked at her for a moment wonder why she stopped when from her smile it was obvious that he had assumed right. Before he could ask anything, Rebecca wrapped her arms around his neck to give him a huge hug and started to passionately kiss him.  
  
Charlie was thrown slightly off balance by the nice surprise and he took two steps back into the door of an empty classroom. As he put one arm around Rebecca, he slipped his other hand to the door knob. The two continued to kiss as they stepped into the room.  
  
'Wonder what exactly brought this on?' Charlie thought as he ran his hand through Rebecca's hair. He decided to wait until Rebecca pulled back to ask her. After all, he hadn't gotten to really kiss her like this in a long while and with school wrapping up in a weeks time he wasn't sure when the next time he would get the chance to after the ride home. Finally, Rebecca pulled away.  
  
Charlie resisted his desire to pull her back to him as Rebecca sweetly smiled and softly said, "Thank you."  
  
"For what?" Charlie asked as he thought, 'Shouldn't I be thanking her for the snogging session?'  
  
"For everything you did for me this year. ... For letting me be me. For understanding when I went nuts. And especially for not making me say everything. Sometimes I swear you know me better than I do."  
  
"I don't think I know everything that you know about your self." Charlie started to kiss her again. "But I am glad that you feel like I know enough to be thanked."  
  
Charlie put his hand under Rebecca's chin and pulled her in for a kiss that ignited another session of kissing.  
  
It took until lunch but the two finally left the classroom. Before they went to lunch, they made a stop in the restroom for Charlie to wipe off the lip gloss that transferred from Rebecca lips to his and also to let Rebecca reapply the gloss. The two knew that they were going to be teased for their disappearance, but they were not about to give the others proof about what they were doing.  
  
After being questioned mercilessly through lunch, Charlie and Rebecca made their way up to the common room to study at a back table.  
  
"I think I am cracking," Rebecca stated after about an hour of studying.  
  
"Why do you say that?" Charlie as he flipped a page of his potions book looking a little exasperated himself.  
  
"Because all I want to do is go back to the classroom and..."  
  
"You want to?" Charlie eyed the door as Rebecca shook her head. "Grab your books."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Just grab your books and follow me."  
  
Quickly the two piled their books up and walked out the door. Once in the room they set down the books on the front desk and before Rebecca could say or do anything Charlie swept her up and softly started to kiss her.  
  
The two continued to make out until they heard a creak of the door to the room.  
  
'I wish we had done something to make it look like we were studying,' Rebecca thought as she and Charlie instantly separated.  
  
They looked behind them to see Professor Snape walking in the door.  
  
"What are you two doing in here?" He demanded, but before either could answer he looked around and said, "You two have been really busy in here. Your ambition is something to be admired. If you need them help, I will be in my office."  
  
Rebecca and Charlie looked at each other very confused as Snape left them alone.  
  
"What in the world?" Rebecca said as she turned towards Charlie. Suddenly she saw what Snape had seen. There was writing all over the chalkboard.  
  
As she continued to gaze at the board, Charlie joked, "It obviously pays to be his favorite student..."  
  
"Wasn't that clean when we came in?"  
  
Rebecca took steps towards the board while Charlie turned to look at the board.  
  
"Um, yeah, I think. I don't remember there being anything on it, but now..."  
  
"It has potions on it. ... It looks like it is the rainbow potion over here. ... Over there are the ingredients for wolfsbane."  
  
"Hey look our books! They are open and our notes are out!"  
  
"How did that happen?"  
  
"Don't know. ... You got any guesses?"  
  
"Nope, but Snape's comments make sense now. He thought we were studying hard core." Rebecca started laughing.  
  
"Oh! ... At first I thought he was condoning, um, acts of indiscretion."  
  
Still giggling Rebecca looked at Charlie and sputtered out, "Yeah, I thought he was offering to help us find places for us to snog when he said 'If you need any help, I will be in my office.'"  
  
Charlie couldn't contain himself anymore he started to laugh with Rebecca. The two continued to laugh and compare what they thought of the professor's statements causing them to laugh harder and harder.  
  
They were both sitting on the floor dying from laughter when Ryan and Cassie walked into the room. They had been passing when they heard the noise and decided to investigate.  
  
"What is going on here? Why are you in the charms room alone?" Ryan screamed when he saw the two. Rebecca and Charlie looked at him a moment but continued to laugh. Cassie started to giggle not know what was so funny, but she never liked to look like she wasn't in the know.  
  
"I ASKED WHAT IS GOING ON HERE?!"  
  
"Whoa! Calm thyself," Rebecca responded when she stopped laughing. "Not that it is any of your business. We were studying for OWLs and we took a break because we were cracking up."  
  
Ryan looked around the room and left in a huff dragging Cassie along with him.  
  
"Looks like the mysterious board saves us again," Charlie commented wrapping his arms back around Rebecca.  
  
"Yep," she said wiping her lip gloss off of Charlie's lips. "I would love to know how it happened. As dumb as it sounds, it was like something magical."  
  
"I know. At first I thought it might have been a ghost, but they wouldn't have left us in the room by ourselves. And if it was Peeves he would have thrown stuff at us. We couldn't have ignored him."  
  
"Well, I guess it doesn't really matter, does it?"  
  
"So should we go back to studying."  
  
"Yeah, tomorrow will be here before we know it."  
  
The two went back to studying. One would go and write down what the ingredients of a potion were while the other checked it against what the book said. They had a few more visitors through out the afternoon including Peeves the school poltergeist, who did throw thing at them until the Bill came in.  
  
"Wow, you are really studying in here. Impressive! ... And here I was going to see if you guys wanted some help. ... Rebecca, congratulations on having such a positive influence on my brother," Bill commented before he left. Charlie and Rebecca looked at each other and just smile.  
  
"You know Bill's right," Charlie said later that night when he and Rebecca finally left the room.  
  
"What?" Rebecca asked.  
  
"You are a good influence on me." Charlie pulled her close to him and kissed her again.  
  
"Oh, I think it should be the other way around."  
  
"Huh?"  
  
"Charlie, I just don't feel like I am the same person I was when I was when I first came here, which is a good thing. I think it has a lot to do with you."  
  
Rebecca got up on her toes and gave Charlie a kiss. The two smiled and continued to walk up to the common room to go to bed and get rested their tests. The next day started OWLs and NEWTs and it seemed everyone in the fifth and seventh years were cracking up from anxiety.  
  
Rebecca tried to remain as calm as possible but her nerves did get the best of her. In between lunch and the practical part of charms Rebecca got really dizzy. She was sitting next to Charlie and slumped over onto his shoulder.  
  
"Becca?" Charlie lifted her head up and tried to get her to focus on him.  
  
"I'm okay. ... I just need a glass of water." Rebecca started to dig through her for her medicine as Charlie walked away to get her water. Ryan took this opportunity to walk up to Rebecca.  
  
"Hey we need to talk."  
  
"Not now Ryan," Rebecca replied grabbing for the water Charlie was handing her.  
  
"Why not?" Rebecca ignored him and after putting her medicine in her mouth she took a swig of water.  
  
"Are you going to be okay?" Charlie asked as he took the water from her.  
  
"Yeah, I think I need to get up and walk a little," Rebecca responded grabbing Charlie's hand as she got up. The two walked away leaving Ryan sitting there fuming. Russel came over and sat with his friend.  
  
"My uncle better be right," Ryan hissed as he stared at the back of Rebecca.  
  
"What?" Russel asked quite confused.  
  
"Nothing."  
  
"You know these crypt things you have been saying that have to do with Rebecca and your uncle are getting old. I thought we were best mates?"  
  
"We are, but I can't tell you right now. I'll tell you over the holidays."  
  
"Fine, but can you refrain for saying anything. Cassie is getting edgy about those comments too and I have been getting the brunt of it. I am two seconds from helping her into the lake."  
  
"She's just nervous about OWLs," Ryan tried to brush Russel off.  
  
"Then why isn't she bugging you?"  
  
"No clue."  
  
"Fifth years, come in now," announced Professor Marchbanks, the head of the Wizarding Examinations Authority. Immediately, all the fifth years filed into the Great Hall.  
  
"That wasn't that bad," Charlie sarcastically stated as he walked out of the hall.  
  
"Let's go to dinner then go to bed," Rebecca said as she put her head on Charlie's shoulder as they walked up to the Gryffindor tower.  
  
"Still not feeling well?"  
  
"I still have a headache. Poor Greg had to catch me when I walked out from taking the exam."  
  
"Really?! Do you need to go to the infirmary?"  
  
Rebecca reluctantly shook her head as she whispered, "I don't think it will do any good. ... I mean I think there is more to it then me just stressing out for OWLs."  
  
"Do you have any ideas?"  
  
"Well, there is the idea of Ben coming into the common room. Ryan and I are completely at odds with one and other. Russel is going to be trying to get me to nail down something with that stupid bet. ..."  
  
"Is there something else, Becca? ... I mean all that has been going on for a while and you didn't start fainting until today."  
  
Rebecca stopped and thought for a moment.  
  
"You know I think you are right. ... This morning it hit me that after this week it is summer holidays."  
  
Rebecca took seat on the steps.  
  
"You don't know where you're going to be next year, yet," Charlie said as he took a seat next to her. "Do you think you will know before we leave?"  
  
"I hope so. I don't want to get my hopes up or miss a chance to tell everyone good bye in person."  
  
"You think that you are going to be leaving?" Charlie panicked for a moment. He really didn't want Rebecca to leave.  
  
"I don't think so since I did the puzzle and the potion, but you never really know with the laywer's."  
  
"Well just have to wait and see then won't we?"  
  
Rebecca nodded and Charlie gave her a comforting kiss.  
  
"Come on let's go for a walk and then we can go to dinner."  
  
Charlie and Rebecca had no idea that they would not have to wonder any longer on where Rebecca would land the next year for too long. On Wednesday, everyone was eating breakfast trying to get some studying in before defense OWL started when the mail came in. Rebecca found herself looking at the barn owl owned by the lawyer. Immediately she grabbed for the letter the owl had and after throwing the bird some toast and letting it fly off she ripped into it.  
  
A second later, Charlie and the other Gryffindors heard, "YES!"  
  
Rebecca instantly turned and wrapped her arms around Charlie who was completely caught off guard once again. They toppled back over back of the bench.  
  
"Ouch. ... Okay Becca what is up? Did you get out of OWLs somehow? Because if you did you have to share how you did it," teased Charlie.  
  
Rebecca started to laugh, "No, it's says I get to stay!" She showed him the letter very quickly, to fast for him to read any of it, and then went back to hugging him. Charlie laughed and gave her a huge hug relieved that he wouldn't have to give up seeing her every day.  
  
"Hey, love birds!" Greg called over the table. "What's going on?"  
  
Rebecca rolled over to see Greg, Sara, Cathrine and Colin standing up on the other side of the table looking at her and Charlie. James and Jacquelyn were sitting on the same side, but had the same confused look on their face as they watched the two on the floor.  
  
"There's no more for me to do! I get to stay! I passed everything that I need to!"  
  
"YES!" cried all the friends.  
  
James and Jacquelyn dropped down to give Rebecca a hug as Greg and Colin jumped over the table with Sara and Cathrine. The fifth years dog piled Rebecca who for once in her life didn't feel the effects of her claustrophobia. Of course if they had stayed like that for two much longer, she probably would have.  
  
"What is going on here!" came a voice over the group's giggles. As soon as the groups saw that it was Professor Snape, everyone scrambled to get up.  
  
Rebecca's legs were tangled up and she was having problems getting up. Suddenly she felt two hands lift her up. She looked up to see Adam had helped her up. Once she had her legs back under her, Rebecca turned to see Snape somewhat glaring at the group.  
  
"Sorry sir. It just ... with the pressure of OWLs and everything ... we sort of got carried away ... with celebrating the fact that I was informed that I will be back next year."  
  
Rebecca let out a sigh. 'Why did I use that many words?' she thought feeling as though she was sort of making up an excuse, even though everything after the test part was clearly the truth. Snape appeared not to care whether or not part of the statement was slightly fictitious.  
  
"Well that is news worth celebrating," he said with a smile on his face. "It looks like I will have an excellent NEWT class next year. ... Tomorrow is the potion OWLs, correct?"  
  
"Yes, sir." Rebecca was slightly taken aback.  
  
"Well good luck, then. Not that you really need it Miss Carter."  
  
As Snape walked a way, Charlie took his seat and joked, "It's nice to be dating a teacher's pet."  
  
"I would disagree with you, but whether I wanted to or not, I do get away with a lot it seems."  
  
Everyone sort of started to laugh and talk of the next year. It was a nice break from the stress of OWLs and several seventh years, including Anna and Bill joined to the conversation allowing them to briefly forget about NEWTs. 


	30. YearEnd Surprises

The relaxed atmosphere of the Gryffindor table was the envy of all the houses. Ryan may not have been really jealous mood, but more in a malicious frame of mind. Every time Rebecca laughed or leaned into Charlie, he wished something would happen that would knock her off of the cloud she was on and bring her back to what he deemed to be reality. Ryan even reveled with the idea something occurring that would be horrific enough that she would turn to him for support to regain her good mood and toyed with the idea of refusing the help that she needed.  
  
Little did Ryan know that he would get his wish when the mail cam on Thursday morning. After all the owls left, Ryan found a letter from his uncle. He had an odd feeling about this letter, though he couldn't quite put his finger on why.  
  
"YES!" Ryan cried after he finished reading his letter. He was standing up and unaware that he drew the attention of the students in the all houses.  
  
As he went to sit back down he caught Rebecca looking at him curiously. His smile got bigger as he leaned over and borrowed some parchment from Harvey. Rebecca was turning back to the talk to Charlie about the up and coming potion OWL when a paper plane went sailing at her.  
  
You're staying at my house this summer!  
  
"What?!" Rebecca gasped. "How does he know that?" Charlie looked over to what the message said.  
  
"Didn't you just find that out this morning?" he asked with a confused tone of voice.  
  
"Yeah, how did he find out already? I don't know what is worse: the idea of spending the summer there or the fact that he knows already."  
  
The horrified look on Rebecca's face was more than Charlie or any of the other fifth years could handle.  
  
"Come on let's go for a walk," Charlie said as he got up from the table.  
  
Rebecca jumped up and joined him as Greg, Sara, James, Jacquelyn, Colin, and Cathrine slowly moved from the table. They didn't know whether Charlie was saying that to everyone, but they wanted to help Rebecca and thought maybe they all could come up with a plan to make Rebecca feel better about the situation.  
  
"How can I ever thank you guys," Rebecca said as the whole group walked out of the great hall after the written part of potions. "I don't think that I would have made it though that part of the test if you guys didn't promise to steal me away from the Malfoy's as often as possible."  
  
"Not a problem, just glad we could get that look off your face," started Cathrine and Colin added, "Yeah, we only like to see that when we have a great scary prank. ... Of course, could you imagine the look on Snape's face if he thought that you had done horrible on potions?"  
  
The group started to laugh and headed outside to relax a little before lunch. Rebecca was just glad that she didn't have to worry about putting up with Ryan by herself all summer. However, she had a feeling that Russel was going to want be over non-stop.  
  
"So Rebecca is going to be at your house all summer?" inquired Russel intrigued about the new development as he walked outside with Ryan.  
  
"Well at least for a month, but I don't think she know that part yet. ... It doesn't really matter though, because should be plenty of time for you to sweep her off her feet," commented Ryan sort of happy that Russel would have the chance to steal Rebecca from Charlie.  
  
"I think it would take more than a month for your cousin to fall for me."  
  
"You have that date. All you have to do is show her a good time and don't try to drag her off to some place for a kiss and you'll be back in her good graces."  
  
"I think it will take more than that."  
  
"What makes you say that?"  
  
"Nothing." Russel didn't want to talk about everything he had done to Rebecca. She hadn't told Ryan so why should he. Ryan was protective enough of Rebecca that he might never let Russel around her again if he knew.  
  
'Rebecca must have feelings for me, if she didn't tell. She knows Ryan just as well as I do,' Russel convienced himself as he continued to throw things into his trunk.  
  
"Now, who is being cryptic?"  
  
"Hmm?"  
  
"You got on me about what I say about my uncle and you won't tell me what is up with Rebecca suddenly hating you. ... I have been around her enough to know that there is something major up for her not to get over what ever you did."  
  
Before Russel had to answer, Cassie came up behind them and started in on how hard potions was. Her dramatics didn't stop until the end of OWLs.  
  
All of the Slytherins were glad to have the last test over with. They all thought that meant that Cassie would stop with all her whining. Of course at the end of the year feast when Gryffindor was announced as winner of the house cup, she started back up. That night, Cassie was able to confine her hysterics to her dorm room as she packed to head home which meant that the rest of the house didn't have to deal with her.  
  
"I am going to throw that girl in the lake if I hear one thing out of her tomorrow about how tough anything is or how unfair it is," Russel muttered as he packed up his trunk after trying to get something back from Cassie.  
  
"You're really getting irritated by her lately, aren't you?" Ryan commented as he shut the lid to his trunk.  
  
"Mate, I have said it before. Her overreacting is too much for me any more... She is not Rebecca. I am sure that she is one girl that is able to pack without complaining about how much she has to pack."  
  
"Probably. I am sure she is laughing up a storm in Gryffindor," Ryan darkly replied.  
  
He didn't like the thought of her making such memories without him when his big hopes for the memories they would have at the beginning of the year never occured.  
  
Of course, Ryan had no idea how right he was about what Rebecca was doing. For while the Slytherins were putting up with the damper mood created by Cassie, the Gryffindors had all the dorm room doors open and were laughing about what they found while packing. They were constantly laughing and running in and out of room returning things they had borrowed and forgot to give back. Every 'oh, I was wondering where that was' type comment caused another round of giggles.  
  
There was only one moment that was slightly on the melancholy side and that was when Rebecca found the puzzle that Wadsworth had given her for Christmas in the bottom of her trunk. She had a mix of emotions from sadness of thought of Wadsworth to the fun that she had putting the puzzle together with the other students to anger of how Russel mislead her to think he was genuinely nice.  
  
After a few minutes of just looking at the beautiful wooded picture of the puzzle and remember what the saying said, Rebecca put it back where she had found it.  
  
She may not have been in that great of a mood then, but when she caught sight of her Christmas sweater she started to smile as her mood started to rise. How she wished that it would be cold enough to wear tomorrow. Reluctantly, she put it on top of everything and shut her trunk.  
  
Rebecca sat on top of her trunk and looked around her room sad to be leaving it, but ecstatic by the fact that she was coming back. After a few minutes, she got up and got changed to go to bed.  
  
As she set out her clothes for the next day, James called in, "Becca, do you think that we could do one last dance lesson for the year?"  
  
"Sure, why not? I'll be down in a minute."  
  
Rebecca grabbed her gray robe with a baby blue and white feathered design that matched her baby blue pajama pants nicely. As she walked out the door and down the steps, she threw it on not bothering to close it. She was so comfortable with everyone in the house that she didn't mind if they saw her white spaghetti strap tank.  
  
It seemed that everyone else had the same idea. There were all the guys and girls wearing their pajama. Some had robes and others didn't. The ones with robes joined Rebecca in not closing them.  
  
James walked over in his red pin stripe pajama pants and white tee and lead Rebecca to the center of the room. After a few fancy moves, James spun Rebecca to Charlie who had on a navy blue muscle shirt with grey pajama pants. Charlie and Rebecca danced together while James sought out Jacquelyn in her royal purple tee and purple tie-dye pants to dance with.  
  
Soon all the students came into the common room and started to dance and laugh.  
  
Rebecca had to let Lauren, who was dressed in her light pink pajamas, dance with Charlie so she took the opportunity to go and say good bye to Anna who had been dancing, but started to take pictures of everyone.  
  
"Hey!" Rebecca said as she approached her team mate who was standing by the fireplace. "You all packed up and ready to go?"  
  
"Unfortunately, yes," Anna responded with a bittersweet tone in her voice.  
  
"Well, we will miss you. You'll have to come back for a match."  
  
The two girls hugged as Anna said, "Wouldn't miss it. I am dying to see how you, Greg, and Cathrine work together. It should be impressive. ..."  
  
As the girls continued to talk, the noise in the room got louder with laughter and music. Charlie wanted to get another dance with Rebecca, but when he saw that she was enjoying talking with Anna, he grabbed Aisha and danced with her since she asked if he would. He glanced over a couple time so that he could get Rebecca when she was done with chatting.  
  
Suddenly Charlie looked over to see Rebecca, who appeared to be falling, grab onto Anna's arm and then the two girls were gone. He rushed over to see if he could get the girls back, but he was too late. A.J. came over as everyone seemed to notice Anna and Rebecca went missing.  
  
No one knew where they were, but Charlie had a strong feeling that he did and he was not happy about it.  
  
"What happened?" Anna asked as she got up off the floor from the other side of the fire and looked around. "Okay new question: Where are we?"  
  
"Beauxbatons," Rebecca soberly responded when she saw her surroundings.  
  
"Your old stomping ground?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
Rebecca was looking at the familiar surrounding not sure what to think. She knew something had to be up for them to get pulled into this room.  
  
"Why so glum?" came another voice behind the girls. Rebecca and Anna turned around to see Ben standing there. "I thought you might like to see what you left."  
  
"Ben, what do you want?" Rebecca forced out through gritted teeth.  
  
"Wow that was harsh. What no friendly hug for your best friend?"  
  
"Where's Stacy?"  
  
"Ugh, Stacy is in bed. She and Ty had another go around about dating. He wants her back and she said no. ... I don't see what her problem is, it is almost as though she thrives not being in the in crowd since you left."  
  
"Good for her. ... Now why did you drag Anna and me through the fire?"  
  
"I just wanted to talk to you."  
  
"Well you got both of us so talk fast and then tell us how to get back!"  
  
"It is part of the floo network you take some floo powder and throw it into the fire and say where you want to go."  
  
Anna stood back and watched as Rebecca rolled her eyes at Ben's sarcastic explanation.  
  
"Are you done?" Rebecca flatly responded arms crossed in front of her. Ben looked at her a moment and realized that Rebecca wasn't in the mood to put up with anything.  
  
More sincerely, he said, "No, I wanted to ask you something."  
  
"And what is that?"  
  
"Are you coming back here next year?"  
  
"No, I am not."  
  
"Why not? Stacy said that you had a choice."  
  
"I did, but I chose to stay where I was."  
  
"You need to come back here."  
  
"Why, so that I can keep you and Sydney in line? I don't want to be the one responsible for that. From what I heard, it appears you two were holy terrors this year."  
  
Ben looked down at his feet and slowly said, "Yeah, I guess I took it out on everyone the fact that I missed you. ... After talking to you in the fire I realized that and I broke up with Sydeny. She let me be that mean nasty person that I became. I don't want to be that person."  
  
"That's no excuse and you know it." After a harsh look from Ben, Rebecca turned to Anna and said, "You ready to go?"  
  
Anna quickly shook her head and started towards the fire.  
  
"Bye, Ben," Rebecca said as she started towards the fire.  
  
"NO, I need you here with me."  
  
"Ben after what you did to Stacy, I would rather have to go to Durmstang then be here with you. With my luck, I would be the next victim to your rage."  
  
With that Rebecca and Anna grabbed each others hand and walked to the fire. As Anna threw some floo powder and said, "Hogwarts."  
  
Ben said in a hurtful tone, "Durmstang?"  
  
"Yeah, Durmstang."  
  
Anna and Rebecca stepped into the fire as Ben called, "Becky, I would never do anything to you, you know that!"  
  
The two girls were thrown at out on the other side of the fire into a room that had a table in front of the fireplace. Anna and Rebecca both fell over it and landed on the floor.  
  
"Now where are we?" Rebecca asked as she and Anna picked them selves up. "You okay?"  
  
"Yeah. ... It is so cold here." Anna pulled her soft yellow robe close. "I don't think that we are at Hogwarts."  
  
"Hogwarts?" came a deep voice behind the girls.  
  
Both jump and turned around to see a jet black haired boy that appeared to be between Anna and Rebecca's ages. His cold blue eyes pierce through both of them.  
  
"Who are you?"  
  
"I-I-I'm Rebecca and this is Anna. We are from Hogwarts."  
  
"How did you get here?" the extremely tall guy asked as he took a step towards the girls.  
  
"We don't know, where is here?" Rebecca and Anna both took a step back.  
  
"Durmstrang."  
  
"Oh," the girls said remember it was the last thing Rebecca had said back at Beauxbaton.  
  
Rebecca relaxed a little more and said, "You wouldn't have any floo powder, would you?"  
  
"Yeah, there is some right here, Rebecca, right?" The boy walked toward the mantle to a jar.  
  
Rebecca took a few steps towards the fire place as she responded, "Yeah, Thank you...."  
  
"I'm Grant."  
  
"Hey Grant!" called a girl that came running down the steps. She had long straight black hair, but didn't get close enough for Anna and Rebecca to see much else. "Do you know where..."  
  
"It's up on my bed, Krissy. Thanks for letting me borrow it. Make sure Emily knows that you have it back. ... My bludger bat broke and she let me borrow her spare. Emily thought that I broke that one too. ... Here have a cookie and have a seat."  
  
Anna and Rebecca gave each other 'we really didn't need to know about the bat' and reluctantly took a cookie.  
  
"Well, we better try to get back to Hogwarts. Bye," Rebecca said throwing the powder into the fireplace.  
  
Grabbing Anna's hand so they wouldn't get seperated in the network, Rebecca thought, 'We can land in Slytherin for all I care as long as it is some place familiar.'  
  
The two girl walked in to the fire and said, "Hogwarts."  
  
Both felt the sensation of being suck along floo network.  
  
As they flew out the next fire place, both girls closed their eyes. They couldn't help it they didn't want to see where they were at if it wasn't at Hogwarts.  
  
"Where do you think we are?' Anna asked trying to blindly untangle her legs from Rebecca.  
  
Slowly opening her eyes, Rebecca looked around to see a familiar sight. She finally said, "Hogwarts, but we went to Slytherin."  
  
"How did we get sent here. ... I guess it doesn't matter since we at least can get back to the common room without falling into another room. I think I have bruises all over. What a trip."  
  
Rebecca nodded her head in agreement as she took a bite of the cookie Grant handed her. She stopped for a moment because it tasted funny to her.  
  
"At least the cookies are that bad, I guess."  
  
"What?"  
  
"What are you two doing in here?" came Calloway's voice stopping Rebecca from explaining. Both girls jumped up and faced him.  
  
"We would love to know that too," Rebecca quickly answered.  
  
"How did you guys get in here?"  
  
"Um, ... we sort of had an ... incident ... where we got, um, pulled through the fire... and we were trying to get back and... don't seem to be able to get it quite right. ... At least now we can walk up to the common room." Rebecca looked around and asked, "Um, where's the exit?"  
  
Calloway rolled his eyes and looked as though he was about to tell them when his facial expression changed making both girls uncomfortable.  
  
"After seven years, I think it is time for some of us to get what we always wanted." He walked over to the steps and called up, "Hey Flint come down here. I got a surprise for you."  
  
"Anna! Where is the exit? I don't remember," Rebecca whispered frantically.  
  
"I think it is on that wall, but I don't remember." Anna softly said heading towards the wall cross from the steps.  
  
"What is the surprise, Jason?" Russel asked as he walked down the steps. Suddenly he saw Rebecca and Anna. "What are they doing in here?!"  
  
"They fell through the fire. They say that they are 'lost.' I think it is a sign that they are supposed to be ours. Look they are even all ready to spend the night."  
  
Rebecca turned around to see Russel looking longingly at her. She about flipped out when both he and Calloway headed towards the girls. There was something in both of the boys' eyes that said they weren't going to take now for an answer, though Rebecca could tell Russel was torn on what he wasn't going to do that she couldn't say no too.  
  
"Found it!" Anna exclaimed and pulled Rebecca out the door.  
  
"Oh, no you don't," Calloway said grabbing at Rebecca's arm.  
  
Anna grabbed Rebecca's other arm and tried to get them out of the door. Much to his surprise, Russel pulled at Calloway as Rebecca twisted out of the Slytherin's grasp. There was a point when Russel wanted to grab hold of Rebecca and give her an end of the year kiss, but Rebecca and Anna took the opportunity to run out.  
  
"Come on," Calloway ordered as he raced out of the room. Russel followed him out to see the girls disappear up the steps.  
  
Rebecca and Anna made it up to the Gryffindor common room without getting caught by the Slytherins who were pursuing them. Neither really knew where the guys were behind them. They just wanted the portrait to close and lock them into their common room safely.  
  
"Anna, we got to stop landing in there by accident," Rebecca commented as she and Anna tried to catch there breathes.  
  
"Ya think?" huffed Anna half joking half not.  
  
"Where have you two been?" Charlie and A.J. asked in unison as they rushed to them.  
  
The girls looked at them and the rest of the Gryffindors that were in the room. Everyone had worried looks on their face even though they were relived to see them back.  
  
Once they caught their breath, Anna and Rebecca told everyone what happened. A.J. and Charlie wrapped their arms around here girlfriends and lead them to the couch. Most people left after the Anna and Rebecca finished their story in disbelief that the girls didn't have to go to the infirmary after their little journey.  
  
Once alone, Charlie told the two girls that while they were at Durmstang and in the Slytherin House, Ben had been back in the fire demanding to see Rebecca not believing that she wasn't back.  
  
"He said something about you needing to come back to Beauxbatons so he could have you and you can't escape your destiny, what ever that was supposed to mean. ... I think he would have hopped out at us if all the guys from the quidditch team weren't standing there giving him the evil eye," Charlie said at the end. As Rebecca started yawn and settle her self into his arms as she had done every time that she fell asleep in his arms, Charlie added, "Come on it is getting late and I am sure that you are tired."  
  
He didn't want to let go of Rebecca but thought she would be safer and sleep better in her room. There was something about Ben that just left Charlie with this weird feeling and a sense that he wouldn't be deterred from getting what he wanted.  
  
'At least he doesn't know what room she is in,' Charlie thought as he started to get up.  
  
Rebecca went up to her room reluctantly. She would have preferred to sleep on the couch in Charlie's protective embrace even if it was right by the fire where Ben could see she was back.  
  
'I just don't like the idea that he could come through the fire. At least in Charlie's arms I feel safe. I know Ben wouldn't dare do anything if Charlie was there," Rebecca thought as she climbed into bed.  
  
"You okay?" Sara asked seeing that Rebecca was still looking worried.  
  
"After everything that happened tonight, I think I need a security blanket, so I sleep tonight," Rebecca somewhat joked.  
  
"Understandable. ... I have my old stuff bear in my trunk. You want to try that?"  
  
"Trunk..." Rebecca whispered and then smiled when she thought of what was in her trunk. "Thank you for the offer but I think I have something that will work."  
  
She got up and got into her trunk and as Sara looked on curiously, Rebecca pulled out her Weasley sweater. She pulled it on and instantly felt better.  
  
"Night Rebecca," Sara said with a smile.  
  
"Night Sara!"  
  
Rebecca woke up the next morning and couldn't believe how well she slept. The sweater had done the trick in making her feel safe. She did notice that as she got up and started to get dressed for the last breakfast at Hogwarts for the year that she felt sore and she had a good number of bruises on her legs, arms, and back. 'I can't believe Ben did this to me, introvertedly or not, she thought as she brushed her hair.  
  
As she walked out of the bathroom, she heard Cathrine ask, "Is it me or is it sort of cold in here?"  
  
"I feel cold too," Jacquelyn said as she walked towards the girls open window. "It feels cold outside."  
  
Rebecca had to admit that she felt cold in just her tee-shirt too so she threw her sweater back on as she walked out of room.  
  
"You're cold too?" Charlie asked when he saw Rebecca in the common room.  
  
"Freezing," responded Rebecca walking right into his arms to get some of his body heat. "I don't think I have ever felt this cold in June before."  
  
"Me too. I think I might pull my sweater out too. Did you sleep okay?"  
  
"Oh, yeah. I slept in the sweater for security since you made me go to my bed," Rebecca smarted off and then thought for a moment before she added, "It is so weird, because I wanted to wear this last night and today I can."  
  
As they walked out to go to breakfast, Charlie commented, "Isn't that magical?"  
  
"You know I have had things like this happen to me even before since I started at school. Never could figure out why."  
  
"Do you it could be your powers could be doing it then?"  
  
"I don't see how when we come to school to learn to control them," Rebecca quietly responded wondering if Charlie wasn't right, but after a moment she jokingly added, "And besides I don't think changing the weather was ever in my scope of powers."  
  
"Well maybe not the weather, but chalk and chalkboards might."  
  
"I'll buy that theory since I really wanted to have something to keep us out of trouble, but I don't think I am that powerful to get all of that writing done so fast."  
  
The two entered the Great Hall and took a seat with the rest of their friends. The group discussed there summer plans and then went to get a carriage to get to the Hogwart's Express.  
  
Rebecca boarded the train knowing that she only had a limited number of hours to spend with Charlie and the rest of the group. It was surreal to her the idea that they wouldn't be with each other every day.  
  
'I am so attached to them all,' Rebecca thought as she, Charlie, Greg and Sara settled into one compartment and James, Jacquelyn, Colin, and Cathrine settled into the one across the hall. 'I don't think I ever thought about not seeing Stacy everyday when we went on holiday. Maybe it is just because I am dating Charlie.'  
  
Rebecca looked over and smiled sweetly at Charlie who smiled right back at her.  
  
"Who wants to play exploding Snaps?" Greg asked as the train started to pull away.  
  
They spent most of the ride to London playing games and enjoying the last freedom they had with their magic until next school term. Lauren came in seeking protection from Harvey who had followed her into the compartment her friends had gotten. He tried to come in, but soon found out that he was no match for four fifth year students.  
  
Ryan walked by and found out the consequences for making a snide remark about how only the best purebloods were ever welcome in his house. Rebecca couldn't help but hex him to make him leave. She always did have distaste for that fact about Ryan and his family.  
  
Russel tried to say something about his and Rebecca's date, but left when he figured out that Rebecca wasn't in a very civil mood with him.  
  
"She will be at Ryan's during July. You can talk to her there. Explain about just wanting to talk last night. ... Oh hell you are just going to have to explain about the whole year," he muttered to himself as he walked away to find Ryan so that he could help fix the hex.  
  
"If I didn't want my ring back," Rebecca started, but didn't finish because she wanted to move on to a different topic that would put her in a better mood.  
  
As the quartet of friends continued the journey conversing and laughing with their other friends across the hall, Bill appeared in the entrance, looking slightly sad, but had an air of contentment about him.  
  
"What's up Bill?" Charlie asked noticing that Bill had something to say that couldn't really wait.  
  
"Um, nothing much. Lennon and I just broke up," the oldest Weasley announced walking in.  
  
"Oh, Bill, are you okay?" Rebecca questioned.  
  
"Yeah, we were having some troubles and the fact that I wasn't going to be around next year sort of was a catalyst. I mean there is no reason for us to try to stay together when we could just end up hating each other in the end. Now we are still friends and when she is out of school maybe we will try dating again."  
  
Charlie wrapped his arms around Rebecca as he said, "Well at least you guys can be friends. I think it would be hard to go back..."  
  
"That's because you two were dating as soon as you met," Sara sarcastically stated.  
  
Rebecca and Charlie looked at her funny causing Greg to add, "Oh, come on you two you know that you looked like you were dating before you were dating."  
  
Charlie started to laugh as he drew Rebecca closer and said, "I guess I always did think of her as my girl."  
  
"Well, bro, I was thinking that maybe we could share her for a while," Bill said as he lifted Rebecca's leg so that he could sit down and have them on her lap.  
  
"Maybe I don't want to share her."  
  
"What you 'fraid of losing Becca to me?" Bill was teasing, but Charlie obviously thought there was some truth to it.  
  
"He can't lose me unless he is trying to," Rebecca answered in a teasing way, but really wanted to let Charlie know that she had no intention of trading him for someone else.  
  
Charlie kissed Rebecca as A.J. came in with Anna and Aaron. The three settled in and the conversation automatically went to quidditch.  
  
Sara got up and went to the other cabin with Lauren. She loved the sport but found that there was little that they would say that she hadn't already heard before. Heath came in shortly after Sara left and Cathrine ventured over to get in with the team.  
  
"I have to go do rounds," Bill said getting up to give Cathrine a seat.  
  
"Well for once you all aren't fighting a team meeting," Wood commented when everyone seemed to quite down.  
  
"What do we have to meet for?" Heath questioned grabbing at the exploding snaps deck. He really just wanted to play a game.  
  
"To talk about next year?"  
  
"Aaron, you and I aren't going to be here and they don't have to find my replacement since Becca is coming back. The only thing that is really needed is a person to take over for you, but I am sure they can find one without our help," interjected Anna.  
  
"Oh, yeah, they can do that by themselves," Wood start looking as though what Anna was thinking they were meeting for never really crossed his arms. "I just want to make sure that they have a captain named for next year."  
  
"It's Charlie!" Cathrine, Heath, A.J. and Greg said together causing Rebecca started to laugh.  
  
"What's so funny Carter?"  
  
"Sorry Wood, but I think everyone assumed that it was already taken care of and it's funny that you are the one worried about it. I mean, I haven't been with the team that long, but the way you always asked Charlie what he thought about strategies, it sort of seemed that he was being groomed to be captain. You have to admit you acted like what he said with me joining the team was the law."  
  
"Okay, so I always thought Charlie would make a good captain, especially after I had mono and couldn't practice. As a fourth year, he showed that he was up for the job and I want to see what he can do a few years wiser."  
  
"So does that mean that you are going to come back and watch a match?" asked Anna.  
  
"I want to."  
  
"Good, we'll come back together and cheer everyone on."  
  
Aaron nodded his head happy that Anna wanted to go back for a match.  
  
"So everyone is cool with Charlie as the new captain?"  
  
"YES!" Anna, Rebecca, Greg, Cathrine, Heath, and A.J. screamed as they started to laugh.  
  
"That's settles that! Charlie congratulations you are the new captain. I know I am leaving the team in good hands."  
  
"Um, thanks everyone," Charlie said with a funny expression on his face almost as if he didn't know whether he wanted the job anymore. He had assumed he would be in the running for it, but the expectation that the group seemed to have for him as captain was higher than he ever expected.  
  
"You'll be fine," Anna stated confidently.  
  
"So is the meeting over?" Cathrine asked eying what was going on in the other compartment. She couldn't tell but it appeared Colin had everyone laughing with an idea for a prank and there was no way she wanted to miss out on any prank he had thought up.  
  
"Yep," Aaron said as his final act as Captain.  
  
As Cathrine got up to go, Heath started a game of exploding snaps with Greg and A.J. The three started talking about the world cup and about the professional teams that might make it that far.  
  
Charlie noticed the bittersweet tone that was present in Wood's voice so he started a conversation with the ex-captain about strategy changes for the next year after all they were not the only team that was going to have new team members and there was the matter of finding Aaron's replacement.  
  
Anna and Rebecca just smiled at each other as Aaron started listing the things that Charlie needed to be aware of for his position.  
  
"Would you fancy a walk?" Rebecca finally asked Anna when she felt that she couldn't keep her giggles in any longer.  
  
Both girls popped up out of their seats and said that that they would be back which fell on deaf ears since all the guys were preoccupied with talking about quidditch.  
  
"I swear guys have one track minds," Anna laughed as she shut the door behind them. Rebecca just laughed she couldn't help but agree after what just happened. "So, Becca, how did you sleep last night?"  
  
"Pretty good, why?"  
  
"You weren't tossing and turning all night?"  
  
Rebecca looked at her funny and then noticed that around Anna's eyes were bags.  
  
"Nope, I pulled on this sweater and it seemed to keep me calm. Weren't you able to get to sleep?" Rebecca asked really concerned.  
  
"Not overly I started to stiffen up and wasn't able to stay in one position for very long. All of those falls out of the floo network took its toll."  
  
"I was stiff this morning and the bruises I have..."  
  
"I know I was kind of glad it was so cold so that I could wear long sleeves without anyone asking about them."  
  
"I didn't even think about that. ... Anyways, I wonder why I slept so well? I mean I know I threw my sweater on so I felt secure against the thoughts of Ben coming through the fire, but the soreness is throwing me for a loop now."  
  
"Who knows? Maybe your body just shut down. You know from the stress of last night and therefore you didn't feel anything. If Calloway could get through the fire at me, I know I would have been a lot more reluctant to go to bed last night."  
  
Rebecca was about to respond when she saw Calloway down the hall.  
  
"Speak of the devil," was all she could say.  
  
Anna looked in the direction of the other and both girls without a word to one another started to look for a compartment with one or more of their friends in it.  
  
Calloway started towards the girls determined to pull Anna aside and talk with her about what she was doing after graduation. He was curious to find out where the girl of his dreams landed herself a job.  
  
Unfortunately, for him, the girls found the compartment where Jenna, Kurt, Lennon, Kevin, Audrey, and Adam were.  
  
"Hey mind if we come in for a second?" Rebecca asked as she and Anna came in and shut the door.  
  
"Sure, we need a cheerful lot in here," Adam stated looking at Lennon. She didn't look too happy and what Adam said just made her madder.  
  
"He didn't act upset at all when I suggested that we take some time off," spit back Lennon. "How would you feel if Kalie said that to you?"  
  
"I would tell her that was fine I will see her next summer when we get back from school."  
  
"Haha, very funny."  
  
"Len, I think he was thinking that with him being out of school now that it was for the best," Jenna stated. "You know he would never want to hold you back from anything."  
  
Lennon made a face as if she was torn whether Jenna thinking about the same guy.  
  
"Actually, Lennon, Bill was just in our compartment," interjected Rebecca. "He said something about maybe you too could start dating again when you get out of school."  
  
"So he wasn't just using a line when he said we are still friends and I will write to you?"  
  
"Yep."  
  
"Oh... WHAT is he doing?"  
  
Everyone turned to see Calloway looking into the compartment. Adam got up with Kurt and Kevin and walked past Anna and Rebecca.  
  
As the girls sunk in the empty seats, Calloway disappeared only to return with Ryan, Russel, Hans, Dan, and Sam a little later on.  
  
"Where are they?" Jason asked.  
  
"Anna and Rebecca left to go back to their compartment. They just wanted to say good bye to us," Lennon piped in.  
  
Calloway left in a huff with Hans, Dan, and Sam close behind. Russel was going to leave and go back to their compartment, but he noticed that Ryan just staring at Lennon.  
  
"Ryan?" he asked to snap his friend back to reality.  
  
"Oh, right," Ryan said slightly startled. "Have a good holiday everyone. Lennon."  
  
"Ryan."  
  
Ryan nodded at Lennon and then walked away.  
  
"What is up with him?" Jenna asked when Ryan was out of ear shoot.  
  
"Don't know," Lennon dreamily said trying to see if she could get another glimpse of Ryan. Jenna just giggled at her friend.  
  
Suddenly, Rebecca and Anna appeared in the compartment.  
  
"That was a close call," Anna whispered.  
  
"Yep," responded Rebecca. "Thanks for the quick thinking Adam!"  
  
"No problem," Adam responded in his deep voice and then teasingly added, "Can't believe you two didn't think of it faster."  
  
"Anyways," Rebecca said ignoring him. "Have fun during the holidays!"  
  
Anna and Rebecca walked out of the Ravenclaw's compartment so that they could enjoy the rest of the ride with their friends from Gryffindor.  
  
Charlie, Rebecca, and the rest of the gang jumped off in good moods and excited to see their families. Rebecca found herself being introduced to everyone's parents.  
  
Lauren's parents came first. They couldn't stop thanking Rebecca for watching out for their little girl while she was at Hogwart's. As her parents thanked Rebecca one more time, Lauren thanked the guys who watched out for her the last couple of weeks.  
  
After being thanked for the millionth time, James pulled Rebecca away. His parents were excited to meet her. Apparently both James and Jacquelyn had written them telling about Rebecca and the dance lesson.  
  
"Oh, dear, it is so nice that you could keep James up with his dancing," Jame's mother commented after giving Rebecca a hug.  
  
"I hear that you got Jacquelyn up to speed so that we all can go out dancing," added Jame's father.  
  
When Rebecca met Cathrine and Colin's family, Rebecca found herself in midst of a whole crew of jokesters. She swore her sides were ready to split open.  
  
One by one everyone took off with there families, until it was down to meeting Charlie's family. Rebecca about died laughing when Charlie tried to formally introduce her to his parents and his mother flat out interrupted with, "I know this is Rebecca she is wearing the sweater I made her. ... Now dear, if you need anything at all don't hesitate to owl us. Also feel free to stop by at any time."  
  
"Thank you very much," Rebecca sweetly responded as she thought, 'The Weasley's are so much friendlier than the Malfoy's. I am so glad I am Charlie's Girl.'  
  
She couldn't help but smile bigger. She felt so at ease with Charlie and his family and it made her so happy to feel that way.  
  
"Now, dear, we do expect you to spend some time with us sometime this summer," insisted Mr. Weasley.  
  
"Of course," Rebecca sweetly responded.  
  
After telling the Weasleys good-bye along with giving Bill a hug and then kissing Charlie, Rebecca turned to see Ryan along with his mother and father waiting for her. They didn't look like a very friendly lot compared to the Weasley.  
  
'This ought to be an interesting summer,' was all Rebecca could think as she followed the Malfoy's off Platform 9 ¾. 


	31. A Note from the Author

A NOTE FROM THE AUTHOR:  
  
Thank you one and all for reading Charlie's Girl. For those of you who wanted this story to continue until Rebecca graduates and possible beyond. The saga of Rebecca continues in Who's Girl:  
  
For Rebecca Carter being Charlie's Girl will always bring her comforting thoughts. The security and support Charlie Weasley has brought to her life was something she had never experienced before and doubts she will ever forget. But now as the past which robbed her of knowing her parents becomes more prevalent, Rebecca finds herself digging up memories and emotions she had long ago buried to learn the truth behind people calling her a true Carter. Is she really her parents' daughter or was the bond between her and her beloved guardian Wadsworth so great that she became his girl? Join Rebecca as she struggles to find out who's girl she is and where her past will lead her future.  
  
(Please see my profile to get to Who's Girl. WARNING: I am still in the process of writing Who's Girl so chapter's will be going up slower than they did with Charlie's Girl are subject to revisions.)  
  
Thank you all once again for reading this story and posting your comments! 


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